Wintertime Sadness
by XxCagedBird
Summary: Jack Frost is a rebel without a cause. However, he meets a young piano player named Dahlia. The girl can see him even though he isn't sure how it is possible. Is she his fate? All he knows is that he must protect her from the darkness of the world. Can this young girl melt his frozen heart? -It will get intimate near the end, which is why it is rated M-
1. The Boy In The Trees

**November.  
**

"_What do I stand for? Some nights I don't know."-Fun, Some Nights_

"Dahlia, have you practiced your song? You know the concert is only a few months away."

A young girl is sitting in front of a large grand piano, just staring at the white keys. Many sheets of music sit upon her chair, lap, and on the floor. Her soft blue eyes stare at the music sheet in front of her face that reads _Kiss the Rain by Yiruma. _How long has she been staring at this sheet of music without playing the beautiful notes? She isn't sure.

"DAHLIA DID YOU HEAR ME!?" a woman's voice yells up the staircase.

Dahlia shakes her head, looking around the room. She stares at the wall that is covered in many posters of bands and animals she loves. Her fingers grip to the black bench she is sitting upon and she quickly pushes it back so she can stand up. She bends down and begins to pick up the music sheets that lay upon the hardwood floor as she mumbles to herself. She opens the black bench and places all the sheets of music within it carefully, keeping it organized.

"DAHLIA! ANSWER ME!" the same woman yells at her from the first floor.

Dahlia sighs softly and walks towards her bedroom door, her hand grips to the handle and turns the knob. She walks down the wooden stairs until she sees her mother. The woman appears to be in her late 50's with long black hair and cold blue eyes.

"Mom you know I'm in a different world when I am practicing the piano," Dahila said in a very calm and collect voice.

Her mother rolls her eyes and walks into the kitchen. Dahlia walks over to the coat hanger and grabs her white pea coat. She quickly slides into the nice jacket and grabs her white knit hat, placing it over her long and curly black hair. Dahlia leans down and puts on her black riding boots over her skinny jeans. She can feel her mother staring at her even if her back is turned.

"Where are you going young lady?" Her mother asked in a stern voice.

Dahlia turns to face her but the back to the door. "I have to baby sit Jamie," she opens the front door and groans feeling the cold air hit her pale face. "I won't be back till tomorrow, it's overnight stay this time."

Her mother doesn't say anything as Dahlia closes the front door. She rolls her soft blue eyes and begins her walk towards Jamie's house. She walks along the sidewalk, keeping her head down staring at the white cement below. As she walks she can hear the laughter of children and the yelling of their parents.

As she walks down the street, she can almost feel like someone is watching her from the distant. Trying to shake the feeling off, she walks a bit faster. Her feet crush the dead leaves as she walks. However, she can still feel eyes on her. She stops dead in her tracks and looks around. All she can see are houses and trees with no leaves on them.

"I'm losing my mind," Dahlia whispers to herself and continues her walk down the street.

As she walks she pulls out her iphone to check her messages. Deep down she hopes her boyfriend James has texted her, just asking her how her day has been. Her pale finger clicks the message button, but it reads zero messages. She stands still and sighs softly. She then scrolls down to her contacts and clicks on James's name. She presses the phone to her ear and all she can hear is the ringing. It rings. And rings. And rings. But no answer. She hangs up refusing to leave a voice mail. She frowns and stuffs the phone back into her pocket.

As she begins to walk she can feel a strong cold wind behind her that blows her black hair forward. As if someone blew cold air on her. She quickly turns around but doesn't see anything or anyone. She rubs her arms as she turns her body forward once again. This weather is so crazy. She begins her walk once more and smiles gently seeing Jamie's house. His parents went off on vacation for the weekend so it just the two of them until Sunday. She walks up the front stairs but she stops on the last step. She can defiantly feel that there is someone watching her from the side of the porch. Quickly, she turns her head and catches a glance of a figure wearing a blue hoodie but in the blink of an eye it is gone. She runs over to the railing and her blue eyes scan the front yard and the bare trees. In one tree she can see the figure of a boy with the same blue hoodie, just standing on a branch of the tree. However, he is pretty far away so she can't see his face.

"HEY! YOU!" Dahlia yells towards the figure who seems surprised that she is yelling towards him. The boy jumps down from the tree and in the blink of an eye he is gone.

Dahlia just stares at the tree, trying to figure out where he went off too. But, he is gone.


	2. The Note

**November**

"_Can I get to your soul? Can you get to my thoughts? Can we promise we won't let go?"-Stereo Love_

"Dahlia can you make me a grilled cheese and tomato soup, please?" Jamie asked as he sits in front of the TV in the den.

Dahlia peers from around the corner and nods her head, "What kind of cheese do you want?"

Jamie stares the TV but finally looks over at her, "um….CHEDDAR! Lots and lots of it," he says in a very cheerful voice.

Dahlia shakes her head with a smile on her face. She walks over to the fridge and opens the door; her blue eyes scan the context of the fridge. She opens a small drawer and picks up American cheddar cheese. Walking over to the stove she grabs a frying pan and a bag of whole wheat bread. With the click of the stove the frying pan begins to heat up with the sandwich in the middle. She walks around the kitchen trying to find a spatula. She opens one drawer but her eyes dart to the side when she hears Jamie talking loudly.

"No! I'm not gonna ask her! You ask her, she's nice," Jamie spoke loudly to something or someone.

Is he just talking to himself, like kids do? She walks over to the den swiftly, pushing her long black hair back.

"Jamie who are you talking to," she questioned as she looked at the young boy who seemed surprised to see her standing in the arch way of the kitchen.

Jamie shakes his head, "No one…"

Dahlia nods her head slowly but notices the window is open. She walks over to the window, stepping over Jamie's toys that lay on the floor. Jamie's eyes watch him as she makes her way over the window. She groans softly feeling the cold air fly inside the den.

"Jamie don't leave the window open, you're letting all the heat out. You don't want to get sick," Dahlia said as she pulls down the window seal to the bottom.

However, Jamie stands up and pushes her arms from the window. "No, that's how my friend gets inside," he shirked towards her.

Dahlia looks down at him dumbfounded and then laughs softly. Trying to make light of the situation. She removes her hands from the window and places her hands on his shoulder, trying to calm him down. The young boy looks at her and then to the side.

"Jamie…what friend needs to come into the den?" she asked in a very calm voice towards the young brunette.

Jamie looks at her with a small smile and said, "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

Dahlia smiles softly and looks at him, "Try me kid. I believed you when you could talk to your dog, didn't I? So trust me this time. We are friends."

The boy shrugs and then leans in closer to her, and whispers into her ear. "My friend is Jack Frost."

Dahlia's blue eyes widen for a moment as she steps back from Jamie. Jack Frost? That is a myth. The myth that some 'winter spirit' flies around bringing snow and leaving frost on your car in the morning. She's heard of kids being friends with Santa Claus, but Jack Frost? That's a new one. She just smiles and pats his head gently. She then stands up and looks over to the window.

"Fine, I will leave it cracked so Jack can come in, okay? But if I hear you sneeze then the window is going down. Okay?" she said wearily.

Jamie nods and hugs her tightly around her waist. He then releases her and sits back on the couch, watching TV. Dahlia walks back into the kitchen and thankfully the grilled cheese didn't burn while she was gone. She picks up the pan's handle and slides the sandwich onto a plate. She then makes her way over to the cabinets and looks for some tomato soup for Jamie and for herself. She cannot stand the cold weather at all. It is just a depressing season to her, it's cold and miserable.

She pulls out two cans of tomato soup and places them beside the stove. She grabs a small pot and fills it up half way with water. She opens a nearby drawer and finds a can opener, as she opens the cans she can hear Jamie talking once again.

"Her name is Dahlia. That's all I'm going to tell you," said Jamie.

Dahlia drops the tomato soup and walks into the den once again; there is no one but Jamie. She however noticed that the window is opened all the way once again. Dahlia begins to grow a bit annoyed as she looks over to Jamie who just smiles towards her.

"Jamie, who are you talking to?" she questioned with a small bit of attitude in her voice.

Jamie looks around but mainly towards the window, "I was talking to….um..Abby!" he said with a smile on his face.

Dahlia looks around the den but does not see Abby anywhere. She crosses her arms over her black sweater, "Really? I don't see her," she said towards the boy.

Jamie just smiles and looks back at the TV. Dahlia walks over the window and she pushes it down halfway once again. She then looks over to Jamie as she walks back to the kitchen.

"And do not push it back up unless you ask me. Your parents will kill me if I let all their heat out the window," Dahlia said as she disappears back into the kitchen.

She walks back over to the stove but her blue eyes widen as she gasps loudly. Someone already opened the can and put it in the pot. Did she do it? No, she left the can unclosed. Did Jamie? No, she was talking to him in the den. Then who did it?

"I'm going crazy," she whispers to herself.

Her blue eyes then notice a small note on the window near the dining table. She slowly walks over to the window; she looks around as she does. Her heart is racing as her fingers gently picks the note off the window. She walks back over to the stove and she reads the words that are on the note.

_You have a beautiful name._

Dahlia's heart races even faster as she re-reads the words over and over. The only question is, who wrote the note?


	3. Just A Cold Dream

November.

"_No more talk of darkness  
Forget these wide-eyed fears  
I'm here, nothing can harm you  
My words will warm and calm you"  
-__**All I Ask Of You. The Phantom of the Opera**_

"So let me get this straight, something or **someone** came into Jamie's house and opened the can of tomato soup AND left you a strange note. I hate to break to you D but you aren't that important," said a boy on the phone talking to Dahlia.

Dahlia is sitting in front of the fireplace, staring at the fire within the bit. Abby is sleeping beside the girl with her head upon her jeaned leg.

"Yes, I'm telling you James it was crazy. And I'm not crazy," said Dahlia as she moves her spoon into the warm soup, "besides; it was just me and the kid. No one else. And the person left me note! They knew my name. Jamie was talking to someone, what if the person was climbing in and out of the window."

James mumbles something on the other end of the phone and then shouts, "FUCK YES HIGH SCORE!"

Dahlia groans loudly and glares into the fireplace. Of course James is playing a video game when she is about to start crying since she is so scared.

"James! Are you even listening to me?"  
"What?"  
"Have you heard anything I said?"  
"Something about some weirdo in the house, yeah I listen. But I'm sorta busy right now and shouldn't you be doing your job by watching that snot nose kid? So call me back, bye."

And with that James hung up on her. Dahlia pulls the phone from her ear and she closes her eyes tightly. Why does she deal with that asshole? Is it because he can be kind to her every now and then? She isn't sure. Slowly, she opens her eyes and looks down at Abby. Dahlia gently pets the dog's head, which causes Abby to wag her tail. Dahlia just watches the fire and closes her eyes once more, feeling the heat against her pale skin. She picks up the bowl of tomato soup and places it on the coffee table, not hungry anymore due to the emotions running through her head.

After a few moments she slowly stands up, resting Abby's head onto a pillow. Dahlia then walks over to all the windows and makes sure they are all locked. She looks out the window and crosses her arms tightly over her chest. She still feels paranoid from the events from earlier, she still cannot explain how opened the can of soup and left the note on the window.

She walks away from the window and closes the blinds quickly, hoping to get the paranoid feeling to leave. She looks over to the fireplace and notices it is dying down, so that means she can finally go to sleep. Dahlia walks up the stairs and walks down the large hallway that has family photos upon the wall. She stops in front of Jamie's room and peers inside the dark room. He is sleeping like a baby however she noticed he kicked all his blankets off of his body. Walking inside she peers around the room and she glares at the open window. Why does Jamie keep windows open? She walks over and shivers from the cold winds that blow into the large room. Quickly, she closes the window seal all the way down until it makes a 'clamp' sound. Then, she locks the window just in case anything tries to get inside.

She bends down and picks up Jamie's heavy comforter and quilt that lay upon the ground. She then places the comforter over his body and then the quilt on top of the comforter for extra warmth. Jamie smiles softly and pulls the comforter closer to his head. Dahlia only smiles and then walks out of his door, closing the door behind her. After turning off the hallway light she walks into the spare bedroom which will be her room till Sunday. Flicking on the light, she lets out a yawn and looks over to the clock that reads, 11:35. Dahlia strips out of her clothes and into a large red sweater and baggy black pants. She walks into the bathroom and brushes her thick black hair, and brushes her teeth.

Turning off the bathroom light she steps back into the bedroom and yawns once more. She looks over the window and her eyes squint as she looks over at it.

There is a handprint, but it looks like a frost handprint.

Her heart races once more and she runs over to the window, looking out hoping to see the freak who is trying to scare her. Is it James? Wouldn't be the first time he tried to scare her like this. She pulls down the blinds quickly and lets out a sigh of contentment. She walks over to the bed and pulls back the heavy cover and slides into the warm bed. Gradually, she closes her eyes and drifts into a light sleep.

_Within a large den stands a man hovering over a small girl with thick long black locks. She has her hands covering her head and tears running down her face. The man only stares down at her with a cold look in his eye, almost wild. _

"_Daddy please don't do this! I'm sorry. Please don't!" cried the small girl, keeping her head protected. Her hands are covered in blood from a wash on her head._

_The man leans down and tightly grabs onto her wrists, making the small girl whimper out in pain. He just smirks at her pain and roughly grabs her chin to make her look at him._

"_Shut up. You've been a bad girl, you didn't say yes sir when I addressed you, now did you," hissed the man towards the young girl._

_She sniffs loudly and shakes her head, "N-NO sir…I-I didn't. I'm sorry, just don't hit me again, please daddy?"_

_The man raises his fist and strikes her in her left temple causing the small girl to scream in pain._

"_**DAHLIA! WAKE UP!"**_

Dahlia awakes from her dream quickly, sitting up straight in a break of sweat. She only woke up because someone was calling her name. Her blue eyes dart around the room looking for the person who saved her from her nightmare. It didn't sound like Jamie. Her eyes land on a boy who is standing above her bed. She flinches back quickly and pulls the covers closer to her body.

However, she can only sense protection from the stranger standing so close to her.

Dahlia scans the boy's body and features. He has bright white hair that is a messy. His skin is very pale; it reminds her of fresh snow that has just fallen from the sky. He has on a blue hoodie and brown pants. He looks so average yet so strange to her. Dahlia notices a wooden staff lying at the foot of her bed. Who is this person?

Dahlia just now noticed that she is shaking violently and is close to the verge of crying. She shakes her head and rubs her hand over her face. The boy just watches her with a worried look on his face.

"I-I'm still dreaming aren't I? Who are you?" she whispers towards him.

The boy opens his mouth but quickly closes it. He points to himself and suddenly he seems shaken up. Almost in a state of panic. He steps back rapidly and hits the wall as he does so. He pulls his hood over his messy white hair as he stares at her.

"Y-You…can see..m-me? How!? Only children can see me. How can you!?" He asked in a panicked voice as he keeps his back to the wall.

Dahlia rubs her eyes and shrugs her shoulders, "It's my dream…right? So, I can see anyone I want too." she said as she looks at him.

The boy slowly removes himself from the wall and walks over to her. However he stops a few inches from the side of the bed. He pulls the hoodie off his head and just stares at her bewildered. Dahlia rubs her eyes and crosses her arms over her body, trying to stop the shaking. The boy sits down beside her and runs his pale hand through his white messy hair.

"This is a mess I've gotten myself into," he whispers to himself but he looks over at her.

Dahlia looks at him and then away, she notices the window is open. But, she locked it before she went to bed, didn't she? She must be dreaming. She turns back over to the boy who is still staring at her, as if she isn't real.

"Did you call my name," she questioned the boy, "While I was having a nightmare?"

The boy nods his head and she smiles only a little, "Thank you…if you didn't…I-I…just thanks." She said as she looks him right in his crystal blue eyes.

The boy only smiles and shakes his head, "It's no problem. Just go back to bed and you will awake from this dream…"

Dahlia stares at him and she grabs his hand, but she quickly lets go of it due to the cold touch. She stares at him but then places two fingers on top of his hand. The boy's eyes widen from the touch of her hand on top of his hand. He looks down at her two fingers as if they are pure magic.

"Will you stay with me…and make sure the nightmare doesn't return?" she asks him in a timid like voice.

The boy only nods his head and she smiles at him. She removes her fingers from on top of his hand and pulls them close to her body under the covers. She pulls up the covers close to her body and turns her body so it faces him. The boy moves closer to her and she closes her eyes. When his hand touches her head she flinches softly but soon it is so soothing to her. The cold touch on her shaking body is relaxing to her.

"It's just a dream Dahlia," the boy whispers to her as she drifts to sleep.


	4. I Just Ride

November.

"_A whole new world  
Don't you dare close your eyes  
A hundred thousand things to see  
Hold your breath - it gets better  
I'm like a shooting star  
I've come so far  
I can't go back to where I used to be"  
__**-Aladdin**_

The sun's rays shine brightly through the window, caressing Dahlia's pale face. She groans softly and places a hand over her face. Her body turns to the side, facing away from the sun. For a few minutes she falls back into a light sleep. Sadly, the heats from the rays cause her to stir and make her push the covers off her body. Slowly, she sits up and rubs her whole face. Her feet touch the hardwood floor as she makes her way over to the bathroom. She takes a long hot shower, washing her long black locks and washing her body with a sweet smelling soap. Her hand finds a towel hanging on the wall and she wraps her body within the cotton towel as she walks back into the bedroom.

Her blue eyes move over the window and it is closed. She frowns softly thinking about her strange dreams she had. First, her nightmare about her father and then about the frost looking boy. The boy who made her feel so safe, like nothing could ever hurt her, not even the nightmares that haunt her at night. But, he was only a figment of her imagination. Nothing more. She opens the closet and finds only one outfit, since she is only going to be here for another day. She picks up her iphone that is sitting on the bedside table and it reads, **ONE NEW MESSAGE.**

Her heart glows as she opens up the message that is from James.

'_Hey sorry about last night. Let me bring you some food tonight around 9:30.'_

A bright smile grows across her face and she quickly replies to him, '_It's okay, I know you were busy with your game. And food sounds great.'_

She drops the towel around her feet and quickly puts on the navy blue sweater with tribal patterns on it. A pair of black jeans and ankle gray books. Her long black hair rests around her chest and is just a tad wavy, she places the white knit hat over her head so it can cover her ears. She doesn't put any makeup on since she doesn't like wearing makeup. She grabs her iphone as she walks out of the spare bedroom. She walks into Jamie's room who is looking out the window, his head in his hands.

"What's wrong Jamie?" Dahlia questioned as she pulls out his heavy jacket from the closet.

The young boy sighs, "I was hoping for a snow day."

Dahlia laughs gently as she hangs him his jacket, which he slides into slowly.

"Well Jamie, it is only November, a snow day would be rare and it isn't cold enough yet," said Dahlia as she stands over him.

Jamie walks past her and sits on the floor as he puts on his tennis shoes. "My friend Jack could make it snow…" he mumbled as he puts on his last boot.

Oh, here we go again with the _Jack Frost._ She however just keeps her mouth shut about his _fake friend._ Who is she to ruin his fun and his innocent? She wishes deep down that she was still a kid; she never had that childhood image like so many kids have. So, she wants Jamie to have the life which is why she is taking him out so he can do whatever he wants.

Jamie walks out of his room and Dahlia follows after him, they walk down the stairs together and he lands with a jump and she does the same with a laugh. They walk outside and Dahlia groans from the cold air that brushes against her face. Jamie grabs a hold of her hand and pulls her outside. The two of them walk down the sidewalk and Jamie jumps over the cracks, calming that they are lava and if they touch it they will die. Soon, Dahlia joins in the 'game' with him. After ten minutes they reach the small town of Burgess, and the two of them walk around. Jamie stops her at windows and points out all the toys he wants for Christmas since it is right around the corner. They walk through the park and Jamie runs off to play with his friends on the playground. Dahlia sits down on a bench and pulls out her iphone, hoping James replied to her text.

However, she doesn't have many messages.

She pouts and puts the phone back into her pocket. Her blue eyes watch the children on the playground. Deep down she envious all of them but she is happy to see them so pure and innocent. Something she never experienced.

After an hour, she walks over to Jamie and pulls him away from his friends. They walk back to his house and he runs into the den because he is missing his favorite show. Dahlia takes off her white knit hat and places it on the coat hanger. She pulls out her iphone and frowns when no messages pop up from James. She stuffs it back into her pocket as she walks into the kitchen; she opens the fridge and looks for something to eat but doesn't see anything that stands out to her. However, James said he was going to bring her food and Jamie doesn't appear to be hungry so she closes the fridge and walks back into the den.

Soon, 9:00 reads on the clock and Dahlia carries Jamie to his bed and Abby follows her into his room. She tucks him into bed and Abby jumps up beside him, resting her head on his small body. Dahlia then leaves the room and back into the den, she sits on the couch waiting for James. Her stomach begins to rumble and she groans loudly. She turns on the TV but nothing good is on, she just leaves it on the animal planet channel.

She then feels a rush of cold air and her head snaps over to the window, it is wide open. She stands up quickly and closes it. She cannot stand the windows being opened, especially during the cold season like today. She looks at the clock and it reads, 10:00. Where is James? Dahlia pulls out her phone and clicks on contacts and then his name. She presses the phone to her ear, it rings, and rings. But no one answers. She groans loudly and ends the phone call, refusing to leave a voice mail. She sits down on the couch and then lies down on her side, tucking her legs close to her body. She kicks her grey ankle boots off onto the floor as she slowly closes her eyes. Soon, she drifts off to sleep.

Dahlia slowly wakes up from the smell of fresh food, her eyes slowly open and she sits up on the couch. Her vision is blurry as she walks into the kitchen. She rubs her eyes and then spots a bowl of ramen noodles on the bar with a diet Pepsi. Her favorite meal, it is simple but so good. Did James bring her food when she was asleep? No, he doesn't know Jamie's address or the code to get into the house. She however sits down and grabs a fork, poking at the steamy noodles. She chews on some of them, they taste amazing, even if they are ramen noodles.

"I figured you would like it," a voice said to the left of her.

Dahlia turns her head and she gasps loudly, dropping her fork onto the bar.

It's him. He's back. He is standing beside the window, the window she thought she closed before she went to sleep on the couch.

Dahila just laughs and runs her hand through her long black hair, pushing it all behind her shoulders. "I'm dreaming again aren't I?"

The boy presses his lips together and just nods. As if he isn't sure as well. He walks over to her, holding his wooden staff in his left hand. He stands beside her, his icy blue eyes peering down at her. Dahlia stands up and she only reaches the top of his chest. The boy steps back from her, as if she has some dramatic effect on him.

"What's your name and how do you always get into this house? But, then again this is my dream so I guess your name is whatever I want it to be and you can just magically appear. Right?" She asked the boy who is only looking out the window.

He walks over to the opened window and places his staff behind his back. Placing his bare foot on the window's seal, he looks over to her with a smile on his face, "Do you want to go on a ride?"

Dahlia raises a brow , "A ride?"

The boy nods and extends his pale hand for her. Dahlia looks around the kitchen, unsure if she should. However, she slowly walks over and takes his hand. He smiles brightly, his teeth are so perfect and white. Just like fresh snow.

"Get on my back and hold on tight," he commanded at her.

Dahlia nods and wraps her arms tightly around his neck and her legs wrap around his body. He then pushes himself off the window seal and he flies into the starry sky. Dahlia lets out a scream and grips tightly to his body, which causes him to laugh. His laugh is just like bells, so beautiful and perfect. She presses her head against his upper back, but her eyes look to the side. He flies through the trees, but he avoids the branches. After a few moments, Dahlia lifts her head up and looks around. The sky is so beautiful, the stars are shining brightly down at them. Her long black locks are flying behind her as she looks down at the town. All the shops are closed for the night however there are couples walking into restaurants or just enjoying the nightlife. She places her head on the boy's shoulder which causes him to smile the bright smile she is growing to love.

He then flies towards the ground and she tightens her grip on his body. He flies into the park and flies right above the water. Dahlia moves her head beside his to get a better view. She removes one hand from his neck and his hand grips to the other one, making sure she won't fall off of him. His hand is so cold; it causes a shiver to slide down her spine. But, she grows use to it. Her free hand runs along the water, she cannot explain her emotions. But, she feels so free at the moment. Like nothing could ever keep her caged up again.

The boy then flies over to a large oak tree and lands on a branch. She releases her grip off his body and sits down beside him. Her hands grip onto the branch as she looks down, they are so high up but she feels so free. She looks over to the white haired boy and she smiles softly at him. He looks away awkwardly.

"Thanks for tonight…I've never experienced like that before," she said in a gentle voice.

The boy looks over to her with a smile, "I can do it every night if you want," he looks away from her and towards the large lake, "it's your dream afterall."

Dahlia nods, it is just a dream. But it is a beautiful dream.

She moves closer to him as she lets out a loud yawn, she leans her head on his shoulder. He flinches but looks down at her. Her face grows numb but for some reason it is so comforting to her. The boy rests his head upon his. She can feel his white locks falling onto her pale face.

"Can you do me a favor Dahlia?" the boy asked, never moving his head from hers.

"Sure."  
"Can you call me….Jack?"

Dahlia yawns and nods, "Sure…Jack. Sure."


	5. The Nightmare

**December**

"_Let me be your shelter  
Let me be your light  
You're safe, no one will find you  
Your fears are far behind you"  
__**-All I Ask Of You**_

Morning comes to soon for Dahila, the covers are over her head so the sun cannot wake her up however it seems her idea fails. Slowly her eyes open and she pushes the covers back. She sits up and pushes her long raven locks behind her head. Her feet touch the hardwood floor but she jumps up, it seems closer than usual. She then notices the window in the bedroom is open, which must be the reason why it is so cold inside. As usual, she closes the window quickly and locks it as well.

She takes a long hot shower and washes her whole body; she turns off the water and wraps a towel around her pale body. She finds a blow dryer and for the first time in awhile she blow dries her long black hair, it makes it much fuller and it has volume. She walks into bedroom and puts on a black sweater, a white pea coats, jeans, and black riding boots on. Finally, she places her white knit hat on top of her head, covering up her ears. The same outfit she wore on Friday. Today is Sunday, and the first day of December. So, Jamie's family will be back.

In fact, she can already hear their voices downstairs.

She makes up the bed before she walks out the window. As she walks down the stairs she can hear Jamie's parents and Jamie talking in the den. She walks into the den and makes small talk with his family. She is paid $200 for the two nights and she hugs Jamie goodbye, but she will see him in the morning since she has to take him to school.

She walks out the front door and closes it behind her. She then feels her phone vibrating in the pocket of her pea coat, she picks up the phone and she smiles to herself. It's James. Quickly, she answers the call and places the phone to her ear.

Before she can say anything a angry voice yells on the other end of the phone, "WHERE WERE YOU LAST NIGHT!?"

Dahlia stops dead in her tracks and glares in front of her, "Me? Where were you? I waited for you all night!"

Jamie makes a farting noise on the other end, "Sure. I called you twenty times and you never answered. I even got you food at McDonald's."

Dahlia sighs, "You know I hate fast food."  
"Oh, I forgot. But I called you and you never answered. Were you with some other guy?"  
"No, I feel asleep."  
"Yeah, you must have been in some deep sleep. You're a cheating bitch."  
"No I'm not! I swear I was at Jamie's house all night. I was waiting for you-"  
He hung up on her; she removes the phone from her ear and just stares at her cell phone's background. It's a picture of her and James. She squeezes the phone in her hands and stuffs it into her jacket. She quickly walks down the sidewalk, her eyes glassed over like she is about to cry any moment. Why is he so difficult? He is nothing like Jack.

She stops dead in her tracks when she remembers his name. Jack. It's such a simple name.

She shakes her head and continues walking towards her house. She walks up the steps and unlocks the front door. Within the house it is quiet, no one must be home. She places her jacket and hat on the coat hanger and walks up the staircase, and into her room. She closes the door and sighs softly, she is finally home. She kicks off her riding boots and they fall onto the floor. Also, she changes into something more relaxing, just a hoodie and baggy black pants that ride around her hips. She walks over the large grand piano sitting in the corner of her large bedroom. Her fingers trace the keys, leaving a soft hum as she does. She finally opens the bench and pulls out her sheet of music, placing it in front of her. She sits down on the bench and places her foot on the petals below the piano.

Quickly, her fingers begin move over the keys as she reads the notes for the song _Love Me by Yiruma. _The melody is soft and beautiful but yet somewhat sad. Her fingers and her feet move as her blue eyes watch the notes; her eyes never leave the sheets of music. Then, her fingers stop moving and she presses one key, ending the song. A smile grows on her face as she stares at the white keys; this has been her only passion since she was seven. Her escape from the harsh reality she lives in.

After a few moments pass, she pushes the seat back and stands up. Her eyes move over to her bed and notices her phone is lighting up. Slowly, she walks over and picks up her phone. James called, ten times in a row. But, for once in her life she doesn't want to call him back, she rather be alone tonight.

The rest of the night she spent her time on the piano and doing her homework for school tomorrow. She made her way down to the kitchen and made herself a grilled cheese sandwich which she brought up to her room with a bottle of water. The whole time her mind escaped and she thought about Jack. Those dreams seemed so real, but they weren't. No boy can fly or have such a cold touch like winter. However, when she is with him, that's when she is truly happy. And, she feels so safe around him, not even the demons that live in her mind can hurt her when she is with him.

Her eyes look to the side and her clock reads 10:35. She places her plate and bottle of water on the bedside table and crawls under her covers. Her eye lids begin to drupe and she falls into a light sleep.

_Darkness. All she can see is darkness. Her head moves to the side, up, and down. Trying to find an escape from this dark area, however she can't see anything. Just total darkness. She moves one foot forward but she quickly pulls it back since the ground feels like quick sand. Her blue eyes look down to see that the sand is pure black. She moves her foot once again and then her other one, beginning to run in no direction. _

_Suddenly, voices begin to speak towards her, however they are muffled. She cannot tell who is talking to many voices at one time, and she isn't sure how to handle it. The voices get louder and louder, she covers her ears and falls to her knees. _

"_You're nothing but a failure. You will never be a good daughter. Good daughters sit and take abuse without crying or screaming. You disgust me," said a hollow like voice that resembled her father's voice._

_A voice she never wanted to hear again._

"_Look it's little raven girl, go and play your piano since you don't have friend. No one will ever like you, you're a freak," said the voice of a young girl. Dahlia looks up to see four girls surrounding her with their arms crossed over their chest. One of the girl kicks her foot right at her head, Dahlia whines in pain._

_The girls disappear into black sand, leaving Dahlia all alone in the sand. _

_The sand below her begins to move into a funnel like state, causing wind to blow right at her face. The sand then explodes and hits her right in her face. Her arms protect her face from the blow and she slowly moves her arms down to stare at the figure before her._

_It's a man._

_A man with grey like skin and jet black hair, nothing about this man is kind. A black robe is nested on his body, exposing his grey chest. His golden eyes stare at the raven haired girl, no compassion lives within his eyes. Dahlia places her hands onto the dark ground below her as she stares up at him._

"_W-Who are you?" she questions to man._

_The man raises his grey skeleton like fingers and the sand around her begins to move and mold. The dark sand molds into a small figure of her, all alone on a bench. Other sand begins to mold into other people who stand around her, pointing and laughing. _

"_Poor little Dahlia, how does it feel…to be all alone? To have no one to hold you and make everything better. Knowing you are all alone. " the man asked as he stares at the young girl. _

_His voice is like ice, it causes many shivers to run down her spine and her skin to feel clammy. She shakes her head, trying to get the voices and images out of her head. Her hands go to her temples, closing her eyes tightly. The man places his hands behind his back and walks closer to her; he bends one knee so he is level to level with her._

"_You're all alone Dahlia. I feed off your fear and depression. I am the nightmare king," He whispers near her ear, causing her to flinch back. _

_Suddenly, the dark figure stands up due something hitting him in his back. Dahlia opens one eye and spots walking over to them. The figure walks closer and Dahlia's eyes widen to see who it is. It's Jack! But, why is he here!?But, this is her dream so of course he is here. _

_Slowly, the sense of protection returns to her body. _

"_JACK!" She yells towards him which causes the evil figure to look towards her and then dart his golden eyes to the silverette. _

"_So, you two know each other. This is just poetic, too bad you can't save her __**Jack**__," said the Nightmare King to Jack. _

_Jack grips to his wooden staff as he stares at the black figure. He then kicks his foot off the black sand and rapidly flies over to him. The nightmare king extends his arm out and black sand comes out of his hand, the sand transforms into mighty horses that gallop towards Jack. Jack grips to his wooden staff and hits the sand horses with major impact, the horses turn to ice and the snow boy flies over the nightmare king who is glaring darkly at the boy._

_Jack lands beside Dahlia and he runs over to her. Falling to his knees he grabs her hands that rest on either side of her body. He holds her hands close to his face. "Listen to me you have to wake up, I can't fight him all on my own."Jack explained to her, keeping his grip on her pale hands. _

_Dahlia shakes her head and her whole body begins to shake in fear. She can't move an inch of her body due to the fear that is within her mind._

"_DAHLIA YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP!" Jack yelled at her, his face so close to her. Feeling useless, Jack cruses to himself as he looks around the dark area. He then looks over at her, "This is going to be cold, I'm sorry."_

_He tightens his grip on her hands, she whimpers softly from the freezing feeling in the palm of her hands. His cold touch grows to become painful. Jack looks behind to see the nightmare king moving his hands up and the sand moves around them, a deep hole forms beneath Dahlia which causes her to slip into the darkness. _

"_DAHLIA NO!" Jack shouted and grabs onto her arms. The pit growls loudly and some of the sand from it tries to grab Dahlia's legs, but she just kicks it away. Dahlia grips to Jack's blue hoodie, refusing to fall into the pit of darkness. Jack's grip on her tightens and she closes her eyes tightly._

"_Wake up…wake up..wake up…this is all a bad dream," she whispers to herself over and over. _

_Slowly, everything begins to disappear. _


	6. Sweet Dreams

**December**

**Jack's Point Of View.**

"How did we get here?  
Well I used to know you so well  
How did we get here?  
Well I think I know"  
-Decode. Paramore

A bright light appears right above the bed where Dahlia is peacefully sleeping. Jack is thrown to the ground due to the light and quickly the light disappears into the thin air. The winter spirit stares up at the ceiling; his whole body is on the hard wooden floor. Slowly, Jack pushes himself off the hard floor and stands above Dahlia's bed. His icy hues scan the room and his eyes spot his wooden staff lying on the ground, he extends his hand out and the staff flies right into his pale hand.

Jack's icy hues glance over to the sleeping ravened haired girl. He sighs softly and runs his hand through his sliver messy hair. This is a mess he's gotten himself into. And, now Dahlia is in danger because Pitch is invading her dreams. But, why is he picking her? She's older than his usual victims; he usually picks children since they are pure.

So many questions but there are no answers for him. The winter spirit sits at the edge of her bed, cradling his head in his hands. So many thoughts are running through his mind and it is driving him crazy. The air within her room is growing thick to him; he needs to get out of here. He pushes himself off the bed and walks over to the large window beside the grand piano. His fingers grip to the window's locks and quickly he unlocks the window, however it makes a loud clamp sound. He closes one eye when he hears Dahlia stirring in her sleep. His hand moves to the window's seal and pushes it up, the cold air hits his face and he inhales deeply. It is home to him. His leg swing through the opened window however he stops only to look back at the girl who is still stirring in her sleep.

"…nuh…n-…Jack…" Dahlia whispered in her sleep.

Jack's blue hues widen when he hears his name escape her lips. He pulls his leg back into the room and walks over back into her large room. His wooden staff is placed onto her desk and then he makes his way over to her bed. He stands right above her and notices she is still stirring under her covers to the point where she kicked some of them off her body. Quickly, he walks to the other side of her bed and places his knee onto the bed, but he draws back leisurely.

What if she wakes up and sees him lying next to her? She will probably think it is just a dream like the other nights. Deep down, he wants to tell her that he is real and she is the only adult who can see him. However, she wouldn't believe it. No one believes in him, only Jamie. However, she can see him and he can touch her.

Dahlia keeps stirring under her covers and whispers his name once again. This time he pulls his other leg onto the bed, positing his body beside hers. He places his cold hand on top of her head and she slowly relaxes once again. Dahlia moves her body so she is lying on her side and facing him, and she moves even closer to him which causes Jack's icy hues widen. She places her head on his chest and sighs contently. Jack's pale face turns a light shade of pink; however a gentle smile grows across his pale face. His hand runs through her black locks slowly, watching as the pieces of hair fall through his pastel fingers. As he strokes her hair, she moves closer to him till her body is pressed up against his.

He rests his chin on top of her head as his fingers run through her long black locks. It is so peaceful, a peace he never thought he could have for himself. He's lived for some many years that he has seen couples hold hands in the moonlight. He has seen couples lay in bed just enjoying each other's company in the dark. He knew he would never have that kind of peace but now everything seems so different.

He closes his eyes, listening to the breathing from Dahlia's body. His hands move from her hair to her back and gently strokes her back with just his fingertips, his touch is light and gentle. As if he is scared she will break under his touch. She sighs contently and pushes her body closer to his, never awaking from her slumber.

Jack's blue eyes look up when he hears the sound of the bedroom door being opened. He quietly panics but remembers that normal humans cannot see him. He lies perfectly still but keeps his hands on Dahlia's back, holding her close to his cold body. A woman walks into the room with a business suit on and a pair of glasses upon her face. She stands above Dahlia's bed with a detached look upon her face but finally sits at the edge of Dahlia's bed. She sighs sympathetically as she looks down at the young girl who is sleeping and she runs her hand through Dahlia's raven locks. The woman then stands up and bends down to the floor and begins picking up all the covers Dahlia kicked off her body while she was having the nightmare. Hurriedly the woman places the covers back over Dahlia and Jack, who is staying completely frozen as he watches the woman carefully.

The older woman walks to the other side of the bed so she can fix the bed covers. She hovers above Jack and she quickly rubs her arms. As if a giant wind of cold air slapped her right in the face.

"It's so cold in here…" the woman whispered to herself.

The woman turns her head to the side and she sighs seeing the window wide open. Shaking her head she walks over to the window and closes the window seal to the button. She walks back to the bed and fixes the covers over Dahlia and Jack. Then, she walks out of the room and closes the door behind her.

Jack rustles under the covers but Dahlia hands wrap around his body, holding him close to her. Jack's face flushes a hint of red but he only smiles down at her. He rests his head on the same pillow that her head is lying on. He just watches her sleep for the rest of the night.

[This is just small filler, I know nothing happened but I've been wanting to write this small filler for a while. Thank you for those who have been following my story. Please write me a review so I know if you like it or not. And of course to give me pointers.

-Sunshine ]


	7. Green With Envy

**December**

"_Could you see yourself with somebody else?  
'Cause I'm on a mission  
And I don't wanna share  
I want you all to myself right now  
And I just wanna scream it out"  
__**-Boys like Girls. 'Be Your Everything'**_

"Dahlia, get up it's time for school," her mother yells from outside her door and she loudly knocks on it, just to make sure she gets the point.

The young pianist opens her eyes slowly; her blue eyes focus on her opened window. The wind blows through the window making her curtains gently blow forward. She pushes the covers off her body and stretches her arms above her head. Slowly, her feet touch the floor and she wobbles over to the bathroom. She takes her shower, brushes her teeth, and blow dries her long jet black locks. She walks back into her bedroom and opens her closet, staring at the clothes hanging on the hangers. Finally, she picks out her favorite white pea coat, a red plain sweater, black jeans, and grey ankle foots. Lastly, she puts on her favorite white knit hat that rests ontop of her head covering her ears, and her long raven locks hang around her chest in gentle waves. She bends down and picks up her bookbag, throwing it over her shoulders.

She walks out the bedroom and down the flight of stairs, making her way into the kitchen. Her mother is running around grabbing her lunch off the counter and her briefcase that lies on the opposite side of the counter. Dahlia picks up an apple and stares at it. The nightmare slowly returns into her mind, and how Jack saved her. Refusing to let her be engulfed by her own fears.

Dahlia looks up from the apple and at her mother who is still trying to get her things for work.

"Mom…are you coming to my piano concert tomorrow night?" Dahlia asked her mother who seems to be in her own world.

Her mother looks at her with a confused expression, "What did you say?"

Dahlia sighs softly, "Are you coming to my piano concert tomorrow. It will be on TV and everything. This could be my breaking moment."

Her mother grabs her briefcase in a hastily motion and looks over to her daughter. "Dahlia I don't have time for your silly little keyboard passion. Some of us have to make sure we can have food on the table, and stop thinking this piano career will go somewhere. Now, get to school." With that being said Dahlia grabs the apple off the counter and walks out of the house, slamming the door behind her. She slowly inhales the cold air and exhales; it is so cold she can see the fog coming out of her mouth. She slowly begins her walk to school and along the way she bites into the apple. Walking along the sidewalk she keeps her blue eyes on the white cement, ignoring people who pass her by. Mostly families walking their kids to school or a group of kids walking to the middle school. She is ready to graduate from high school, she doesn't have any friends in school nor does she want any.

As she walks the sound of rustling leaves can be heard from the left of her. Her eyes move to the side and spot a figure hiding behind a tree. Shaking her head her feet keep moving not interested to whoever is trying to make her nervous. However, the figure keeps following after her and then jumps out from behind her, grabbing her waist. She lets out a scream but then stops when she can hear a boy's laughter.

James.

The boy laughs loudly and releases her from his grip. Dahlia just fixes her hat and pulls down her white pea coat, glaring over at him. James has messy black hair and a tans skin, today he has on a Halo shirt and jean jeans along with converses on his feet. He has his nose pierced and a huge tattoo on his right arm that read, _No Fat Chicks. _

Dahlia never did like his 'jokes' on her. She rolls her soft crystal hues and begins walking once again.

"You shouldn't walk by yourself Dahlia," James said to her as he walks along side of her.

"I walk to school every day, why is today different? Why are you even talking to me, you called me a cheating bitch last night" She said with a bit of venom in her tone.

"I didn't mean it, you know that. You know you're my number one beautiful girl." He tried to reassure her.

And sadly, it worked.

A small smile crosses over her face and she nods. "Yeah…just sometimes you really make me upset. Are you coming to my piano concert tomorrow night?"

James nods, "Of course, I've marked it on my calendar. Did you do Mrs. Jones's homework? Why am I even asking you that? You're the top kid in our grade. I gotta copy it once we get to school. Hey Marcie is having a party tonight, there is gonna be pot and a keg of beer. You should come and get wasted."

Dahlia just smiles and stuffs her hands into her pockets as she walks along side with James. However, as they walk she can feel someone staring down at them which makes her very nervous. It is the same feeling she felt when she was walking to Jamie's house. Her soft blue eyes look around as she walks along side of her boyfriend.

James wraps his arm around Dahlia's waist, his hand moving slowly down her backside and he slaps her butt hard. Dahlia pushes him away which causes James's face to grow dark.

"What the heck James!? I hate being touched like that!" She bellowed at him.

"I just grabbed your ass D, don't get so offended. We haven't done anything but made out, I'm ready for third ba-" Suddenly, a snowball hits James right in the face. Dahlia steps back and gasps, however a small laugh escapes her lips. James looks around panicked ridden, his head turning left and right.

"Who's the little **shit **who threw a **fucking snowball **at me!?" He yelled out.

Dahlia looks around; she doesn't see anyone but the two of them. And the strangest thing it isn't even snowing.

And then another one is thrown right at James's face, causing the boy to grow even angrier. And then another and another. Dahlia covers her mouth with her hand so he won't see her smile. James looks around and walks past Dahlia towards the forest where the snowballs came from. However, he can't see a single person or even an animal.

"Come on, we're going to be late for school," she said as she walks down the sidewalk.

James slowly follows after her however he cannot explain where the snowballs came from or who was throwing them. As Dahlia walked along side with James, her blue eyes move towards the forest and her eyes widen when she hears something. A laugh. The same laugh Jacks has, the beautiful bell like laugh. A small smile grows across her face as the laugh echoes through her head.

**Jack's Point of View.  
**

His blood is still boiling from the boy's busy hands that were roaming over Dahlia's backside. The emotion of jealous is so new to the snow spirit, but it is strong within his blood. He is leaning against the truck of a large oak tree. One of his hands is within the pocket of his blue hoodie while the other is gripping to his wooden staff. Jack kicks his feet off the ground and flies up towards the sky, following after the pair. His icy hues watch the pair carefully, he doesn't understand why Dahlia stays with someone who forgets about her all the time.

She tried to tell him about the _weirdo _who left her a note on the window and made the tomato soup for her. But, he hung up on her.

He promised to bring her food, he never showed up.

He called her a cheating bitch, and yet she stays with him.

Humans never cease to confuse him. And she is the most confusing human to him. She can see him, touch him, and hear him. Yet, she doesn't believe he is real since she only sees him when she _dreams. _

If only he was brave enough to hold her in his arms and tell her he is real. He isn't a figment of her imagination. He is real. And she is extraordinary since she can see him, as if she is meant to be part of his life.

Jack shakes his head trying to get the confusing emotions out of his head. Looking below he tries to find the couple but he lost them while he was zoning away in his little world. He groans softly and mumbles to himself. He flies down to the center of the town and leans on his favorite statue, his bare foot touches the cold marble as he watches the couples and families walking around the park. The kids play in the dead leaves, some throwing the leaves at one another in a game of tag. The parents just watch with a careful look on their face but they know the kids are just being kids.

And, it is his job to protect the children of the world.

Or, that's what the other guardians say.

Why should he protect kids that don't even believe him? Of course they believe in the bigger names like Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. But, who cares about him?

He isn't into doing things formally, he rather just cause chaos in snow storms and have a huge snow ball fight all day, every day. That's his perfect job.

He isn't sure how long he stands on that statue because he hears Jamie's voice. The winter spirit turns his head to the side and smiles to see Jamie playing the dead leaves with the other kids. He is the only kid that seems to notice him, the only kid that believes in winter. Jamie looks up and spots Jack; he waves crazily towards him which causes Jack to break out in a small smile.

Jamie turns his attention away from Jack and runs up to a girl. Jack's blue eyes widen seeing who it is. Dahlia. He quickly jumps off the statue but only floats to the very top of it, peering down at the two of them. Dahlia and Jamie walk right past the statue and Jamie stops her by pulling her hand down.

"Dahlia look up I want you to see my friend! He's ask a lot about you!" Jamie said loudly with a smile on his face.

Jack slaps his hand onto his face. Why would Jamie say that to her!? Out of all the girls in the world, it has to be her. He only asked Jamie a few questions about her and that's it. It's not like he asked for her life story.

Dahlia just shakes her head and bends down to his level, "Which friend is this again?"

"Jack Frost! He's the best! "

Dahlia laughs softly which causes Jack's heart to melt only a little and a small smile to appear on his pale face. She then stands up and places her hands into the pockets of the white pea coat.

"I'm sure he is the best, I'll leave you two alone. It would be rude for me to interrupt."

She then walks away from the statue and sits down on a bench, placing her book bag down beside her. Jamie sighs loudly and looks up at Jack.

"Sorry Jack…I tried." Jamie said sadly and kicks a bundle of dead leaves.

Jack frowns and jumps down so he stands in front of him. His bare feet feel the dead leaves and the coldness from the dead grass. He ruffles Jamie's hair which causes Jamie to laugh softly.

"No worries kid…I don't expect some teenager to believe in me anyway." Jack said softly, spinning his wooden staff in his hand.

Jamie frowns and nods, "Dahlia isn't a big fan of winter, it makes her depressed. I'm not sure why. But, then again it's none of my business of course."

Jack raises a brow and only nods. Interesting. He will have to keep this information in his back pocket when he spends more time with her.

"JAMIE. Let's go, it's getting cold." Dahlia called out for him as she places her book bag onto her back.

Jack nods for him to go after the young teenager. Jack places his staff on his shoulder as he watches Jamie run over to Dahlia. The young boy grips to her hand as they walk away into the small town. His icy blue eyes stare at her as she walks away and then he remembers something that _James _said to her.

A party.

He should probably go just to make sure she is safe. Just in case.


	8. The Party

**December**

"_Oh, my God, I feel it in the air  
Telephone wires above all sizzlin' like your stare  
Honey I'm on fire I feel it everywhere  
Nothing scares me anymore"  
-__**Lana Del Rey**_

The noise of loud rap music could be heard from down the street and the smell of sex was in the air. A place where Dahlia knew she didn't belong. So many people crowd around her and shove into her; sometimes they shout a 'sorry' but most of the time they just stare at her. As if they know she doesn't belong here. Dahlia just stays close to James, hoping to blend into his clothes and just disappear. He is already drunk and still drinking beer, he must be on his tenth beer and they have only been here for an hour. She refused to drink anything because she just doesn't like to drink. In the crowd of people she loses sight of James and feels completely vulnerable.

Making her way through the crowd, Dahlia spots a couch that has beer stains all over it. She sits down and sighs softly to herself; however she notices a couple making out right beside her. Close to the point of undressing one another. Turning her attention to the side, she notices a group of boys smoking pot out of a large bong and breathing out the white smoke into shapes. They laugh loudly and one of them falls onto the ground. Dahlia shakes her head, feeling completely dense for even coming to this party with James. Why did she even come? Her blue eyes scan the room until she spots James standing in a group with many people, mostly girls. He is a huge flirt, no question about that.

Dahlia stands up and walks over to the group. Everyone turns to face her and one of the girls rolls her hazel eyes and laughs towards another girl. All the eyes on her make her feel so nervous and almost scared; as if she can tell they are all judging her. James's glazed over eyes slowly land on her and he laughs loudly, sliding one arm around her shoulders, pulling her into an embrace. Dahlia can smell the alcohol from his breath and it is revolting to her, she almost wants to throw up. The smell of beer only reminds her of her father and his abusive ways when he was drinking.

"THIS…this girl…right here…is my girl! Ain't she pretty," James said in a drunken manner, holding Dahlia close to his body, "And she's got some nice tits as you can see."

The boys in the circle laugh while the girls roll their eyes. Dahlia's pale face flushes a hint of embarrassment. She looks down at her outfit; it isn't anything that shows off her body at all. She just has on an oversized sweater and black leggings with grey ankle boots. Unlike the other girls at the party she doesn't have a need to show off her boobs in low cut shirts or wear tons of makeup.

She shrugs herself out of his embrace which James doesn't even seem to notice, he just laughs and drinks some of his beer. Dahlia makes her way to the back of the house, but she had to shove some people out of her way who were trying to give her beer. The door slams behind her and she is all alone outside. She exhales loudly and her breath is seen in front of her due to the cold air. Sitting down on the steps, Dahlia places her head into the palm of her hand.

Her head turns to the side when she hears something rustling in the bushes. Suddenly, a small kitten appears and slowly walks over to the raven haired girl, meowing loudly. Dahlia smiles gently and a faint laugh escapes her lips. Her pale hand runs down the body of the kitten that begins to purr loudly. Picking up the kitten from the ground, she rests it in her lap and gently strokes its body. The cat is pure white, like the fresh snow that has fallen from the sky and its eyes are deep blue.

"What's a kitten like you doing way out here? All alone? Do you have a home?" She whispers gently to the kitten that has its eyes closed and continues to purr in her hands.

Dahlia turns her head to the side and looks at the house; once again she feels so out of place. Her blue eyes move away from the house and stare into the forest in front of her. She belongs in her room, in front of her piano, and dreaming about Jack. Just remembering his name makes her face flush. He seems so real, but she knows he isn't. Sadly, he isn't.

She flinches softly when she hears the back door open and footsteps are heard behind her. The small kitten raises its head from her fingers, and jumps out of her lap. Dahlia's blue eyes search for the cat but she can't find it. She turns her head sharply to see who made the cat run away, and it is James.

He has a can of beer in his hands as he sits down next the raven haired girl. The smell of alcohol is much stronger now. Dahlia looks straight ahead, hoping he won't try anything on her like he usually does.

"Why…why did you leave?" He asked loudly, and then takes a slip of her beer.

Dahlia just shrugs, "I don't belong in there."

"SURE YOU DO! YOU'RE MY GIRL! Where I go, you go."

Dahlia shakes her head and looks away from him towards the bare forest. In one of the trees she notices a figure just sitting on a branch with some sort of staff in his hand. It looks so familiar to her but she just can't put her finger on it.

Her train of thought is cut when James's lips are pressed against the side of her neck. His lips are wet and sloppy, it is disgusting. Dahlia shrugs her shoulders, hoping he will take a hint and stop trying to kiss her. However, he doesn't take the hint. In fact he advances by placing his arm around her narrow waist, pulling her closer to him. His lips trail from her neck to her chin, he kisses her chin softly and then move to her lips. She moves her head to the side, trying to avoid the kiss. He groans softly and grabs a hold of her chin, roughly placing his lips onto her. She places her hands onto his chest, trying to push him away from her. He just grabs a hold of her hands tightly.

In that moment, she realized he was nothing like Jack.

Jack's touch is soft and ever so tender.

James's touch is rough and demanding.

In that moment, she just wanted to run away to her bed and dream of Jack. Just to be with him once again and know she can be free from all the troubles in her real life.

Dahlia groans loudly into the kiss when James opens his mouth. His tongue demanding entrance, she tries to push him away. James pulls away from her face but he roughly grabs a hold of her porcelain like face. One of his hands moves to her legs and quickly to her crotch, grabbing it roughly which causes Dahlia to close her eyes tightly.

"I'm ready for third base and I'm sick of waiting for you to be ready! So open your fucking legs-" He yelled at her, staring her right in her blue eyes.

Suddenly James is picked up by the hood of his hoodie by someone behind him. Dahlia moves backwards trying to find the person but she can't see anyone. Her blue eyes move to the side when she hears him screaming. He is hanging from a tree branch right beside the steps from where they were sitting. The hood of his hoodie keeps him up in the tree but his hands can't reach the branch to get down. The strangest thing is; half of his body is frozen in solid ice. Dahlia covers her mouth in shock. She looks around for an answer but doesn't find one. She however hears the same beautiful laugh from behind her. She turns her head quickly but doesn't see anything. A gust of cold wind runs through her lock jet black locks as she looks around the back yard. Some of the wind caresses her face, like winter kisses upon her face. Delia turns her attention back to James who is hanging from the tree.

"DON'T JUST SIT THERE! GET ME DOWN D! NOW!" He yelled towards the girl, his legs kicking in the air.

Dahlia just shakes her head and she walks around the house, ignoring his pleas to her. After a long walk she makes her back to her large and empty house. She unlocks the front door and walks in, locking it behind her. The house is dark and cold; she rubs her arms as she walks up the stairs. She walks into her bedroom and tilts her head to the side when she notices her window is wide opened. Quickly, she walks over to the window but doesn't see anything outside. She only sees the moons and the stars, not a single person or animal. Her hands rest on the window's edge, her fingers gripping along the edge.

. Slowly, her knees sink to the hard wooden floor and her head rests on the window's seal. Her long black locks falling around her body, covering her pastel face. As if she is waiting for something. Or waiting for someone. Her eyes slowly close and a single tear runs down her face. Here she is, all alone and hoping to see some sort of figment from her crazy mind. A gentle sob breaks from her lips and her legs curl to her body.

Suddenly, a cold hand rests upon hers but she keeps her eyes closed.

"Jack?" She whispers softly.

"Don't open your eyes, keep them closed. This is just a dream, but I'm here now. Please stop crying." The voice whispers to her and she only nods.

It's the voice she has been dying to hear, it's Jacks.

She must be dreaming. She must have fallen asleep and didn't have time to get to her bed. But, he is right, this is a dream. She only sees him in her dreams. After all, Jack isn't real. There is no way a boy can fly. That kind of stuff only happens in fairy tales and life is no fairy tale.

She keeps her eyes closed like he told her. She can hear his feet move on the window's edge. His wintry hand rests on her black locks and his hand gently strokes her head. Her legs curl up closer to her body as she cries softly.

Why is she crying?

Is it because James touched her and only wants her for her body. Is it because of the past that she has never let go? Is it because her mother is never home and doesn't care about her passion for the piano? Is it because Jack isn't real? And she wishes he was?

Slowly, she drifts off to sleep and her body is picked up from the ground. The sense of protection grows through her body as she finally falls asleep.

[Again, this is just a small filler I wanted to write. My next chapter is going to the most important one. So I hope all my followers are as pumped as I am! Thank you for being such great people. Remember to review and write me messages. =)]


	9. A Song For Winter

"_I'm looking for a place  
I'm searching for a face  
Is anybody here I know  
'Cause nothing's going right  
And everything's a mess  
And no one likes to be alone  
_

_Isn't anyone trying to find me?  
Won't somebody come take me home  
It's a damn cold night  
Trying to figure out this life  
Won't you take me by the hand  
Take me somewhere new  
I don't know who you are  
But I... I'm with you  
I'm with you_

_Take me by the hand  
Take me somewhere new  
I don't know who you are  
But I... I'm with you  
I'm with you"_

_**-Avril Lavigne, I'm With You**_

"OH Dahlia you are going to look so beautiful for your piano concert tonight. Too bad you're mother can't make it."

"She will be here…just a little late," Dahlia said to Jamie's mother who is curling her long black locks.

Jamie's mother only nods as she moves the curling iron through Dahlia's soft raven locks. As Jamie's mother fixes her hair, Dahlia stares at herself in the large mirror.

Last night still sends shivers down her spine. When James kissed her and touched her so roughly it makes her skin turn clammy. Then, coming home and her mother wasn't there made everything so much worse. But, then Jack came back to her like he always does. Even if she was dreaming, he was there and he was with her when she cried. He never left her side, until she of course woke up in the morning. Since, after all it is nothing but a dream.

"OUCH" Dahlia screamed and her hand rushes to her burnt ear lobe.

Jamie's mom smiles nervously, "Sorry hunny…"

Soon her hair is finished and Jamie's mother pulls it all into an elegant bull on the side of her head with a small white headband so none of the hair falls to the side. Jamie's mother then leans down to open the bathroom drawer and pull out a bag of makeup. Usually Dahlia doesn't wear makeup, but she has to wear something since she will be under a bright light. Jamie's mother puts bright red lipstick on her lips and black massacre that makes her lashes even longer and thicker.

Jamie's mother stands back and smiles brightly at the young girl.

"You look absolutely beautiful Dahlia…you are going to do wonderful tonight."

Dahlia smiles only a little and turns to face herself in the mirror. She has a long blue evening dress that shapes her curves perfectly. The dress has a jeweled studded collar at the neck, all white jewels. The dress is a midnight blue that compliments her pale skin just perfectly. (Picture of the dress here, since I like things to be visual. . ) She also has on small silver heels upon her feet, she was never into high heels.

Dahlia walks into the den where Jamie's father is helping his son into a small suit. Jamie has a frown on his face until he sees Dahlia which causes him to smile brightly.

"You look so pretty…" He said with an aw in his voice which causes Dahlia to only return a smile.

Soon, everyone walks outside and Jamie's father gives Dahlia his jacket to wrap around her shoulders. She slides into the backseat and Jamie sits close to her, resting his head on her shoulder. Dahlia's soft blue eyes look out the window as Jamie's father drives down to the town's center. This is the biggest moment in her life and she only hopes both James and her mother will be there for her. But of course they will be there; they promised her they would show up.

Soon, the car comes to a stop and everyone gets out into the street. Dahlia's eyes roam around and smiles seeing so many people walking into the large center. This is a big night for musicians, all musicians. Dahlia follows Jamie's family into the large center, within the welcome room many musicians stand with their families and the family members tell them words of encouragement. Dahlia grips to her music sheets within her hands, for the first time, she is nervous about getting in front of everyone. However, her thoughts are cut off when Jamie's mother places her hand onto her shoulder.

"You're going to do wonderful dear. Now, you better walk back stage and get ready. Oh and here is your number, twenty. Good luck sweetie." Jamie's mother said with a warm smile on her face. A smile Dahlia's mother never wore.

Dahlia only nods and slides off the jacket from her shoulders, returning it to Jamie's father. She slowly walks through the large crowd, gripping to her music sheets as she does so. Her eyes stay at the carpeted ground as she walks through the welcome area. Finally, she finds the staircase that leads to the backstage. When she reaches the back of the stage she notices many kids her ages about to cry because they are so nervous. She doesn't have time to be nervous; this is her breaking moment as a musician. She can become famous if this goes well. Some of the older musicians are peering out of the curtain and Dahlia notices a TV camera in the back of the auditorium.

This is her moment and no one is going to ruin it for her.

Slowly, the lights dim in the auditorium and applause rings through the large building. Dahlia paces back and forth with her eyes closed, humming her piece of music in her head so she doesn't forget it. She notices the first girl walks out onto the stage and her choice of music is _**Moonlight Sonata**_. Such a typical song. It isn't anything bold. Once she is finished the crowd claps and a boy goes out next.

Dahlia stands by herself with her hands in front of her as she listens to the piano music. Her eyes slowly close and her mind drifts into another world as she focuses on her song that she has memorized. She has memorized every note and the tone perfectly. This is her only passion. Finally, her name is called and she inhales deeply and exhales. Her feet walk over to the curtains and she makes her way through to the front of the stage. The light shines down on her making her dress sparkle. She slowly sits down on the black bench and places her music in front of her, perfectly aligned. The title reads, _Darkness Falls by Phillip Wesley ( watch?v=CYhvf9FVOBQ&feature=related _he is amazing. Check this song out to visual it as you read)

Her fingers rest on the keys as she inhales and then exhales. Quickly, her fingers move over the white keys in a dancing motion. She closes her eyes and lets the music control her mind. As she plays the beautiful song a movie plays within her mind. All she can see is herself running through a large field, feeling as free as a bird. She has on a long white dress and her long black locks flow behind her as she runs in slow motion. The sun sets in the sky and the field's grass turns a shape of blue and purple, dancing in the wind. Then, the field turns to nothing but ice. Like a winter wonderland and Jack stands there with a pearly white smile on his pale face.

Her eyes open quickly and the song is over. She just stares at the piece of music, shocked of what her mind made her dream of. The crowd cheers loudly and some people take pictures of her. Dahlia quickly grabs her sheets of music and she bows quickly, with a smile on her face. She did it. She finally made people cheer for her music. The music that is her life. She walks back into the back stage and she can feel the envious eyes on her as she walks past. One of the girls who already went up steps right in front of Dahlia smiles at her. However, the smile isn't a very warming one.

"Good job Dahlia, you did a _wonderful _idea. By the way, have you talked to your boyfriend today?"

Dahlia raises a brow and with that the girl just walks away with a smile on her face. Leaving Dahlia very confused.

Soon, the concert is over and Jamie's family comes to the back of the stage. Dahlia smiles only halfway but she looks for her mother in the crowd of people. Jamie's father pats Dahlia's shoulder and Jamie's mother smiles brightly.

"Oh my you did so wonderful hunny!" Jamie's mother said as she hugs the raven haired girl tightly.

Jamie nods, "It was like you were in a whole other world."

Dahlia just smiles but keeps looking for a familiar face in the crowd. She looks for her mother and James. Hoping for just a glance of their face. However, she doesn't see anyone. Dahlia turns to Jamie's family with a concerned look on her face.

"Thank you for driving me here but I'm going to look for my mom. But thank you again; you guys have done so much for me." Dahlia said to them and then she begins her walk towards the exit door.

"Call us if you need a ride home!" Jamie's father called after her.

Dahlia opens the exit door and her arms quickly cross over her chest. It is freezing outside. The exit door closes behind her with a loud 'clamp' which causes her to flinch. She walks area in the cold dark area, looking for her mother or James. She then stops when she hears a girl giggling and speaking in a whisper. It sounds like the girl that spoke to her just a few moments ago. She turns her head to the side and notices two figures in the dark, leaning against the wall. Dahlia shakes her head and continues to walk. However, she stops once again when she hears the girl's giggling get louder and when she says, "James!"

Dahlia's eyes widen, her head turns towards the couple within the darkness. No, it can't be him. It just can't.

"You're a much better kisser than my girlfriend. And your boobs are so perfect." The boy said to the girl.

Dahlia's crystal hues widen and she quickly walks over to the couple in the darkness. She then covers her mouth when she sees James with the girl. He has her pressed up against the wall, the girl's leg over his waist, and her dress pulled down to her waist which exposes her bare breasts. The girl gasps loudly and covers her naked breasts when she sees Dahlia staring at them. James slowly turns her head; he has lipstick on his mouth and around his face.

Dahlia can feel her heart breaking into many pieces. As if James just ripped it out and stabbed it with a knife over and over. She just shakes her head which causes some of the strands to fall from her elegant bun to fall around her face. Still shaking her head, she backs up and then turns away, running in the other direction with tears burning her eyes.

She can hear James calling after her but she doesn't stop running. She just keeps moving forward. Passing through the crowd of families she looks around for her mother, hoping and praying to see her. She doesn't see her anywhere. Some people try to talk to Dahlia but she just ignores them. Unable to handle her emotional state she quickly walks away from the auditorium center. She finds herself in the downtown area; her blue eyes look around as she walks. Mostly the downtown area is filled with couples who walk hand in hand with smiles on their faces. They make her sick to her stomach.

Her knees give out and she just sits down on the sidewalk, her back pressed against a building. Pulling her legs close to her body, she rests her head upon her knees. Her skin grows goosebumps from the crisp cold air that gently caresses her skin. Then, Dahlia can feel tears running down her pale face. She presses her forehead to her arms, covering her face from the walking strangers.

This was supposed to her night to shine. For her mother to be there with flowers in her hands and for James to shower her with kisses.

But none of that happened.

Nothing is going right nor will it go right.

Tears fall down her pale face and drop to the cold sidewalk below. Suddenly, she feels a jacket wrap around her body which causes her to raise her head up only a little.

"You look so gorgeous…" a soft voice said to her.

Her blue eyes widen seeing who is kneeling in front of her. She slowly shakes her head as she parts her lips to speak. But no words come out. She however pushes the word to escape her lips.

"J-Jack…?" She whispers gently.

Jack is kneeling right in front of her with his wooden staff in his left hand. He has a concerned look on his face as he looks down at her. His white hair seems to be extra messy and shines under the street light, which also causes his eyes to seem bluer. He only nods when she whispers his name.

They stare at each other for a moment that seems like a century.

People pass by them, but none of them seem to notice the winter boy kneeling in front of her.

Slowly, he extends his hand out for her. Her blue eyes stare at his hand and she shakes her head.

"No…y-you can't be real." She whispers towards him.

A smirk grows on his face which causes her heart to skip a small beat. He only shakes his hand, wanting her to take it. Dahlia looks around and she doesn't see anyone but the two of them. Most of the couples are standing in front of restaurants, waiting to be seated.

Gradually, her hand reaches for his and her fingers rest in the palm of his hand. Jack's eye lids lower for a moment and a soft smile breaks onto his pastel face. He pulls her up from the sidewalk and she stands in front of him. Dahlia keeps the black jacket wrapped around her bare shoulders and her eyes stray to the ground below her.

Jack grips to her hand pulling her towards him and he begins to walk. Dahlia's eyes look around as they walk and she notices he is leading her towards the large park. She only goes there when she is with Jamie. The park seems so different at night. Streetlights gleam in the darkness as bugs are drawn to them for warmth.

Jack releases Dahlia's hand so she can walk around. However, she just stays close to him but she turns to face him.

This isn't a dream.

This is real life.

Jack stares right into her face and his icy blue eyes seem to pierce through her heart. He pulls the hood of his hoodie over his head as he continues to stare at her.

"Can you see me?" He whispers towards her.

She can only nod.

"Can you…touch me?" He whispers.

Dahlia only stares at him but she extends her hand out towards him. His icy hues look towards her hand and his lips part as if he was going to say something. She then presses her hand against his chest which causes him to flinch. She on the other hand stands perfectly still. Her fingers grip to his blue hoodie and she shakes her head.

"How can any of this be real? How…how can you be real?" She whispers as he looks up to him.

Jack only stares at her and a tiny smile grows on his smooth face. He steps closer to her and pushes a strand of her black hair behind her ear.

"Most people can't see me. In fact, only two people can see me. Jamie, and you. That's it." He said as he looks at her.

Dahlia shakes her head and her elegant bun falls apart, causing the black strands to drop onto her bare collarbone and shoulders.

"But…people don't fly. I can't fly so how can you!?" She questions him with a somewhat loud voice.

Jack only chuckles to himself as he looks down to the ground and then back to her. "I'm not like most people. In fact, you can say I'm not human."

Dahlia makes a farting noise and rolls her eyes, "Oh yeah, then what are you?"

Jack keeps his icy hues on her the whole time. "Obviously I'm not a normal human. I have white hair and I'm paler than a ghost. Take a guess…I'm a spirit. A winter spirit. A have a special name, you're gonna have to figure that one out."

Dahlia's eyes widen and she stares straight at him. Slowly, everything comes together. The boy who was watching her when she went to Jamie's house. The windows being opened when she thought she closed them, it was him who kept opening them. The frosted handprint on the window. When she returned to the kitchen and found the tomato soup in the pot. The snowballs that were thrown at James on their way to school and how he was half frozen. And the note on the window. The 'friend' Jamie had and who he called _**Jack Frost. **_

Her lips part as she stares at him and she laughs softly to herself. "So, you're _Jack Frost." _

Jack looks towards the street light and only nods. Slowly, he returns his glaze over to her.

"I guess you're sorta freaked out…right?" He questioned.

Dahlia crosses her arms and shrugs her shoulders. All those nights slowly return to her mind, the nights when he made her feel free and how he stayed by her side when she was crying. So, she only shakes her head. Her hands wipe her eyes, hoping he won't notice her tears forming at her eyes.

"N-No I'm not…" she whispers to him, "in fact..I-I'm…almost about to cry since I am so happy.…because I wished you were real with all my might. And…y-you…are. Here you are…in front of me…talking to me…and I know I'm not dreaming."

Jack smiles brightly at her, showing off his pearly white teeth. He steps closer to her and his pale hand runs through her long black locks, causing her face to grow a soft shade of pink. They both stay perfectly still until she breaks the silence.

"If you're Jack Frost…prove it."

Jack removes his hand from her hair with a white eyebrow raised. "How? Isn't my strange appearance good enough for you? And the fact that no one else can see me but you?"

Dahlia shrugs her shoulders, "Do what you do. Do, winter stuff. "

A smirk forms on his face once again and he spins his wooden staff in his hand. His bare feet walk around the grassy area of the park. Then, he raises his staff and brushes it against the grass. The grass grows dead and grey. He then presses his staff at a tree and frost grows on it, all the way to the top. Then he point his staff towards the sky and slowly, snow begins to fall from the sky.

Dahlia only laughs softly as she puts her hands out in front of her. The snow gently touches her hands and rest in her black locks. Then a snowflake touches her nose which causes her eyes to widen in disbelief. Jack then walks back over to her, his staff resting on his shoulder.

"Is that good enough for you? I could make it blizzard but…I don't think you want that." He questions her with one of his hands in the pocket of his hoodie.

She only nods but then looks down at the jacket wrapped around her.

"Where did you get this jacket anyway?" She questions him.

A smile grows on his face and he laughs softly, the laugh that sounds like bells. "Oh I stole it from that douchebag you call your **boyfriend. **He didn't even seem to noticed and you were cold..so you know. I was just trying to be the good person. I-I mean, I don't want you to get a cold or something."

She only smiles and looks towards the side, "Thanks…it…means a lot."

He walks beside her and looks down at her. "Come on…I'll walk you home."

And for the first time in a long time, she enjoys the comfort of winter at her side.

(I hoped you enjoy reading as I enjoyed writing it! Review and let me know how my story is. Much love xox)


	10. Innocence

December

"_Let's waste time  
Chasing cars  
Around our heads  
_

_I need your grace  
To remind me  
To find my own_

If I lay here  
If I just lay here  
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?"  
_**-Snow Patrol**_

**Jack's Point of View**

It seems strange to be in Dahlia's room when she isn't sleeping or thinking she is asleep. But the main reason it seems strange is because now she knows that he is real. And he isn't a figment of her imagination. As if all the tension in the air was lifted away and everything seems so relaxing now. A peace Jack always wanted to feel for himself. Jack looks out into the dark neighborhood as he sits on the window's edge with one of his legs propped up touching his chest, while the other one hangs down. He stares out the window but his icy hues move to watch Dahlia, only when she isn't looking.

At the moment she is on the floor of her bedroom taking off her silver shoes; however it seems like she is having some trouble. The face she makes is amusing to Jack to the point he smiles to himself. As if she could sense him staring towards her, Dahlia moves her head to look over at him. Quickly, Jack turns his head back with a cold expression planted on his face. Hoping she won't know that he was indeed, staring at her. He stares outside and he smirks softly to himself seeing small pieces of snow fall from the sky. Seems his presents is causing winter to come even earlier.

"What are you looking at?" Dahlia asked as she places her shoes beside her large bed.

Jack just shrugs his shoulders, keeping his eyes positioned outside. Never looking over to her.

"Nothing," he said as he keeps his icy hues on the view from her bedroom window.

He keeps his glaze towards the dark neighbor, all the lights within the house are turned off and all the kids are asleep. Jack can't help but to wonder if Pitch is out there, scaring some child while he is just sitting here in Dahlia's room.

But, that job is for the _real guardians. _It isn't like anyone wants him…or believes in him. But why should they? He doesn't bring gifts, or painted little eggs, or money for some teeth. Why do they want him anyway when they don't treat him like a true guardian, the thing they say he is?

"Jack…are you okay?" Dahlia asked, causing Jack to snap back into reality.

He only nods and holds his leg closer to his chest. Slowly, he returns his glaze over to her and he watches for a few moments. His dark brows tighten as he thinks to himself as he watches her just walk around her room.

Why is he here? Why is he sitting in a human's room? And why does he have a need to be around her? He has never needed a person in his life. A rebel without a cause, that's what he is, and nothing more. He is a loner, like a wolf in the arctic who howls in the moon.

But, it seems that everything has changed in his life. And he isn't sure how he is supposed to handle all the strange changes.

Suddenly, a pillow slams in the back of his head which causes him to turn his body towards Dahlia. He glares over at her when he sees her with a bright smile on her silky face. His blue eyes move down to the wooden floor and leans down to pick up the pillow.

"What was that for?" He asked with a frown on his face, "That kinda hurt."

Dahlia only shrugs her shoulders, "I wondered if you would go through your body or not."

Jack throws it back at her and it hits her in her stomach, but it is only a light touch. He smirks towards her and shakes his head. Dahlia turns her back to him, exposing her bare back till the blue fabric starts at the tip of her hip bone. Her bare skin seems so bizarre to him. Probably because he has never been able to touch a human's skin or even see it this up close. Her hands reach towards the jewel studded collar wrapped around her neck, but her fingers can't seem to find something she is searching for.

"Um…will…you…um…do me a favor? Will you unhook this for me?" She asked Jack, keeping her back turned to him

His face flushes a deep red but quickly shakes his head. "W-What? I-I mean, sure whatever. It's just a dress. Where do I unhook this dress?"

She points to the jewel studded collar wrapped around her small neck. He squints his eyes until he notices a small hook in the back. He mumbles to himself and he walks over to her. He extends his hand forward but pulls it back suddenly. Fear grows in the pit of his stomach. What if he touches her and his hand goes through her? But, he has touched her before, so why would it be different this time? Leisurely, he places his pale hand on the collar; his fingers try to unhook it. He groans softly when he can't get it at first but after a minute the collar unhooks. Quickly, Dahlia holds the dress up to her body and hold it up.

"Thanks," she said as she walks into her walk in closet.

Jack rolls his blue eyes and his eyes move to the side until he notices a large piano. Walking over, his hands touch the cold piano and his fingers softly touch the keys. The piano gently hums as his fingers walk over the white keys. He smiles to himself and one of his fingers touches a black key which makes a deeper sound. His frozen hues then move up to the sheets of music along the piano's stand. So many songs he has heard from years of living, songs he wishes he could play or just hear all the time. He picks up a song called _Winter Moon by Bradley Joseph. _The name catches his attention, that's the only reason he picked it up. The sheets of music seem so foreign and outlandish to him, he isn't sure how anyone can read notes. But, somehow she can. And she can play beautifully, like she is in her own world and no one can touch her.

Deep down, he envies her. He hasn't found peace like that. Nor will that peace ever find him.

He walks away from the piano when her closet door opens and she steps out. He just smiles softly to himself seeing the way she is dressed. Just wearing a oversized sweater and long baggy blue pants that ride along her hip bone, and with her hair in a messy bun on top of her head. It's funny how one moment ago she looked like a winter goddess and now she is just being herself. And it still never ceases to amaze the winter spirit.

She looks over to him and then to the piano. Walking over, she bends down and picks up the sheets of music laying on the ground, and places them within the bench. Jack watches her and then looks toward the piano.

"How long have you played?" He asked.

She shrugs her shoulders and walks over to her bed. "Since I was seven," she said as she picks up her favorite white pillow and leans her head on it. "But my mom played piano music when I was just a baby so you can pretty much say it's been part of my life since I was born."

Jack nods and walks around her room, studying the photos taped to the wall. There are photos of her winning rewards and on a large stage with a piano. But he doesn't see many photos of her and her family. What is the story there? But, he doesn't have any room to talk since he doesn't even know his own family or where he is even from. He also notices she has torn out pages of books and taped them to the wall, highlighting over some of the sentences.

"What are you staring at so hard," she questioned which causes him to turn towards her. "It's just a wall with photos and stuff. "

He shrugs his shoulders and walks over to her bed, but keeps his distinct from it.

"Humans are strange to me and you are a strange one. I'll tell you that." He said with a small smirk on his face.

Dahlia only rolls her eyes and yawns loudly. He raises a brow towards the yawn and looks over to the clock that sits on her bedside table. It is 12:00, or just midnight. Humans have to sleep, unlike him.

"Why don't you go to bed…you look kinda…tired." He said walking away from her bed.

"Wait!" She exclaimed towards him, making him stop dead in his tracks. Her blue eyes move over to the opened window and then back to him. "Are you…leaving?"

Jack's eyes widen and he quickly looks towards the wall. She wants him to stay? Why? Why did she whisper his name that one night? Why does she want him now? And, why does he want to stay and just watch her sleep. Like he did that one night, the night he felt the peace he always wanted.

He doesn't say anything but slowly he shakes his head. "Not unless you want me to leave…" he murmured over to her.

She shakes her head as she climbs under her thick covers, her black locks falling onto the pillow. His feet walk over to the opposite side of the bed. Everything feels so awkward now. Before, he could easily lay with her because she thought it was all a dream. But, now she knows that is real and that he can touch her. Maybe he won't want her to lay in the bed with her now.

"Do you sleep?" She asked with a loud yawn that follows.

Jack presses his lips together, unsure what to say.

"Y-Yes," he lies right through his teeth. "But only for a little while."

Dahlia turns on her side, facing away from him. For some reason that is like a stab in his frozen heart.

"You can sleep on the other side…goodnight…" she yawns once again and pulls the covers closer to her body for warmth, "Jack…"

Just hearing her say his name makes his heart beat, even if it is a faint beat, it means something. He turns his head to the side and spots his trusty wooden staff, just in case Pitch tries to come in her room to haunt her dreams. Placing his leg on the bed, he positions himself on his side, his body facing her back. His hand itches to touch her, just a tiny bit of her black locks. But, he keeps his hands away from her. Gradually, he closes his eyes but finds no rest like humans do. After all, he is immortal. Why would he need to sleep?

After an hour passes, Jack notices Dahlia breathing has changed to slow and graceful. She is asleep. He inches closer over to her and just studies her face that is halfway hidden in the covers. She is so peaceful in her own dream world. His eye lids lower as he watches her, feeling a small peace grow within him. Then, his eyes widen when she turns her body to face his and inches closer to his body. As if seeking warmth, but he is only winter. She presses her head against his arm that is stretched out on a pillow, burying her nose into the blue fabric of the hoodie. He only smiles to himself and he runs his hand undoes the messy bun that sits upon her head, letting her locks fall down to her face. His hands run through the raven hair ever so slowly, watching the strands fall onto her face. The peaceful look on her face never leaves, if anything it grows. It is so innocent it makes Jack's heart weep for her. How many people look this innocent when they sleep, especially when they are eighteen? Not many. His pale finger runs down her face and stops at her lips. She softly mummers in her sleep and buries her head deeper into his arm and the pillow.

In that moment he knew he would protect her from anything. Anything evil in this world.


	11. Attention (For My Readers)

Attention to my active readers;

Thank you for everything you've done for me. All the private messages you sent to me mean the world to me. However, I won't update until I see the movie because I want to go down a darker route when I see the movie. I will add more Pitch scenes with Dahlia and Jack. And add the other characters as well. I want to have depth to my story; I don't want it to be just another OCXJack story.

But, enjoy some of the facts of Dahlia. Enjoy.

~Her favorite color is purple  
~Her favorite animal is a leopard.  
~Her favorite types of music is rock and classical  
~Her favorite band of all time is Breaking Benjamin  
~Her favorite composer is Tchaikovsky  
~Dahlia's absent father left her life when she was ten. And he was an active drinker who took his anger out on his daughter and wife.  
~Dahlia's favorite season is spring because it is the renewal of living things.  
~Dahlia's mother (Monica) played classical music when Dahlia slept because Dahlia had active nightmares due to be bullied at school and the abuse her father gave her.  
~Dahlia met James in middle school and fell for his tough boy look. She stayed with him because he was the first person to tell her she was beautiful and even noticed her. It didn't matter if he was a lying jerk; he was the first person to actually notice her.  
~Within Dahlia's house there are no family photos.  
~Dahlia's mother is in the business of the world which is the reason she is never home and doesn't spend time with her daughter.  
~Dahlia never liked fairy tales because she never believed in a happy ending. Witnessing her mother's 'ending' made Dahlia stop believing in magic and even love.

Send me messages if you wish to and of course I will update next week after I see the movie.


	12. True Beauty

_**((**_I saw the movie today and I just HAD to write! I had to! It was such a great movie I started to cry. So great. Also, some people wanted to know if I based Dalia's look off a movie star and I did. If you want to know it is, Emmy Rossum. She is who I based Dahlia to look like. I hope you enjoy. ))

_**December **_

"_We're meant to be one, I know we are_

_If I am the sky then you are my star  
Hey, you don't have a clue_

_This party never ended not for me and you_

_I know you're just pretending"_

_-__**You Don't Have A Clue, Royksopp**_

Morning comes too soon for Dahlia who pulls up her blankets towards her head. Slowly, her eyes open and quickly sits up looking around the room for one person. Jack. Was last night just a dream? Was meeting him not real? Was it just…a dream? Her heart drops down to the pit of her stomach but she quickly looks over to the window. A smile breaks out on her face seeing it wide open. She throws off the covers and runs over to the window. Outside it is snowing. A small smile breaks out on her face, Jack must have made it snow. Her eyes widen, that's right, he did. When they were at the park and she told him to make it snow.

She walks back over to her bed and her eyes widen seeing the clock on her bedside table. It's past noon; she has missed half of her classes. Running to her closet she throws on a black hoodie and skinny jeans with snow boots. She pulls the hood over her messy black hair since she doesn't have time to wash her hair. She grabs her book bag quickly, then realizing she didn't even do her homework. She was out all night with Jack and slept in like a dope. Running down the stairs, her eyes scan the large den for any note or flowers from her mother. But she doesn't see anything. She doesn't even see her briefcase. Did she already leave for Europe without saying goodbye? No, her mother wouldn't do that to her. Would she?

Dahlia opens the front door and walks outside, locking the door behind her. She pulls out her iphone for the first time since last night. To her surprise she has 15 missed calls, all from James. Ten text messages from James and three voicemails, two from James and one from her mother. Why didn't her mom just call her? Pressing the cell phone to her ear, she listens to her mom's voicemail.

"_Hey Dahlia. I'm sorry I missed your piano show. From what Jamie's parents told me, it was wonderful. I'm stuck in New York for the weekend, but have a good Friday. Love you, bye."_

Dahlia sighs softly, another lonely weekend. But maybe Jamie will come over and keep her company with his stories about bigfoot and other creatures. He is so into stuff like that. She was about to check her voicemails from James until a snowball hits her right in the back of her head. Glaring, she turns around quickly but her face softens seeing who it is.

Jack.

He has a soft smirk on his face, and leaning against the side of her house. He holds onto his wooden staff with his free hand, the other one is within his blue hoodie. Just seeing him makes Dahlia's heart melt into her shoes, just knowing he is real. Jack walks over to her, pointing his staff at a small puddle of water, freezing it instantly.

However, she doesn't want to seem like some sort of heart stricken teenager after her biggest crush. She places a poker face onto her pale face and shakes her head, watching the snow fall onto the winter ground.

"Why didn't you wake me up this morning? I've slept through all my classes but one!" She explained with the poker face.

Jack only smiles which causes her heart to thump inside her chest. He only shrugs his shoulders and looks towards the side.

"Maybe cause you look so innocent when you sleep. Sorry, I don't keep up with human business. Like work or _school. _It's boring to me.But, I'll give you a lift." Before she could even answer he wraps his arms around her waist and jumps off the ground, into the cold sky.

Dahlia grips to his blue hoodie tightly which causes him to laugh. She then remembers the one night he took her out on a 'ride' and how magical it was. But this time, it seems even more perfect. She keeps her grip on his hoodie as she looks down at the small town. Many people are walking to their jobs and cars are honking at one another due to the ice on the road. However, none of them seem to notice a girl flying in the sky. She never noticed how busy people can be in their everyday life. Soon, Jack lands her right in front of the high school and she slowly loosens her grip on his hoodie. Unhurriedly, Jack removes his hands from her waist and places them into his hoodie. She pushes back the hood from her head and tries to smooth down her curly black hair, but it is no luck.

"So this a school? I've pictured it to be bigger…" Jack mumbled as he follows Dahlia up the stairs towards the large front doors of the high school.

Dahlia stops and turns to face him, "You can't come inside."

Jack raises a brow with a smirk on his pale face, "And, why not? It's not like any of them can see me. No one can see me but you and Jamie, and some other kids. Come on, I've never seen a school before and I can help you cheat, it will be fun, come on."

Dahlia presses her lips together as she looks at him and then sighs loudly. "Fine, but don't do anything stupid," she said in a mother like tone, which causes Jack to only smirk at her. She turns her back to him and opens the front door. Jack quickly walks beside her and looks around, his crystal hues widen as he looks at the trophy case display, as if it is treasure. Walking into the office, she gets a pass to go to class and Jack was staring at everything in the office. On the way out, he froze a pitcher of water that was sitting beside the door. They walk down a large hallway that reads 'West Wing' and Jack runs over to the lockers and bangs on them with his large staff over and over. Dahlia's eyes widen and she runs over to him.

"JACK! STOP! You can't do that!" She yelled over at him which causes him to stop quickly.

"Dahlia? What are you doing out of class? Was it you making all that noise?" A man's voice asked from behind her.

She sighs softly and she turns her head slowly to find the principal right behind her. He is an older man with a brown beard and wearing a nice suit. She looks over to Jack with an angry face and he only shrugs with a small smirk on his face. Like he enjoys seeing her in trouble.

"I-I'm heading there right now…I-I'm sorry!" She mumbled and holds onto her bookbag's strap.

The man nods and pats her shoulder, "Well off to class." With that, he leaves the two behind. Not even noticing Jack behind her.

Dahlia turns to face him once the principal is out of view. "Thanks a lot! I almost got into serious trouble. Now come on!" She spoke in an angry tone and storms down the hallway. Jack kicks his feet off the cold floor and floats beside her.

"You're kinda cute when you get mad like that," he said in a soft tone with a smirk on his face. Dahlia's face flushes only for a moment and she looks towards a wooden door. Room 305. Her English class. She places her hand on the knob but she remembers that James is in the class as well.

"Jack," she said which caused him to turn his attention to her. "Don't do anything stupid, James is in here. So just…do nothing."

She noticed that his face grew darker when she said James. Why does he hate him so much? A better question is, why doesn't she hate him?

"No promises," Jack mumbles as she opens the door. The teacher stops writing on the chalk board and everyone looks up, as usual. Jack chuckles under his breath at the motion and walks past her. Dahlia hands her teacher the pass and the man reads it, and then throws it away into the trashcan that is beside his desk. Before he can embarrass her, she quickly finds her seat in the back. She holds her breath when she sits next to James who is glaring at her. Opening her book bag, she places her English textbook on the desk and opens it up to the page from where the teacher is reading from. She can feel James staring at her but she pushes some hair into her face, like a curtain. As the teacher lectures, a cold chill runs down her spine. Jack must be standing behind her. She doesn't want to turn around and look like a crazy person, so, she keeps her eyes on the textbook.

After ten minutes a wad of paper hits her in the head. A soft growl escapes from Jack but Dahlia just shakes head, 'talking' to Jack in her own way. She looks down at the wad of paper on her desk and looks beside her; James eyes her and then the paper on her desk. Sighing, she opens it and begins to read the message. She can feel Jack's white hair brushing against the side of her face; he is reading it as well.

"_Dahlia, sorry about last night. I was drunk. I love you. Forgive me, please."_

Jack laughs loudly and tries to grab the note from Dahlia, but she moves her hands out of the way. He groans softly and rests his head onto her shoulder.

"Don't tell me you're going to fall for that Dahlia. He's just lying to you…stop falling for his lies." Jack whispered into her ear which causes Dahlia's heart to race within her chest. He even runs his pale hand through her long black locks, probably just to annoy her or cause her to stir with anger.

She however shakes her head and grabs a pen from her book bag. She can feel Jack remove his head from her shoulder and he grabs the pen from her hand. She turns her head to him with an angry expression on her face; he holds the pen over her head. Just like a kid. She glares at him darkly which causes him to smile down at her.

"Say my name," Jack spoke in a childlike voice. "And I'll give it back to you or it drops on your _lover boy_."

Dahlia shakes her head and she can feel James staring at her like she is crazy. Jack then smirks over to her and hangs the pen over James's head and then drops it on top of his messy black hair. James's hands shot feeling the pen drop down his hoodie. Dahlia glares at Jack who is just laughing as he looks over at her. James manages to find the pen in his hoodie and slams it on his desk.

"Dahlia did you do that? What's your fucking problem?!" James yelled at her which causes Jack to stop laughing.

Dahlia just shakes her head and the teacher clears his throat. "Dahlia and James, we still have five minutes of class."

Dahlia sighs as she runs her hand through her long black hair; she can feel both James and Jack glaring at her. Thankfully, the bell rings and she is the first one up, grabbing her bookbag she slings it over her shoulder and runs out the door. She can hear James calling after her but she turns down a hallway. She can feel the cold presence of Jack beside her as she walks quickly down the hallway, towards the front doors. She merges into the large crowd of seniors who have early dismissal and finally makes it outside. She pulls her hood over her head from the cold wind hitting her face. Jack stands in front of her and then looks over to her.

"So, now what?" He questioned.

Dahlia opens her mouth but closes it quickly when she hears her name being called. Jack looks over her shoulder and his expression darkens. She can already tell who it is by his facial expression.

"Dahlia! Why did you run off like that!?" James yelled over to her, he soon stands in front of her with an angry expression on his face. Jack stands close to Dahlia, as if to protect her, even though James can't see him.

"I…I have things to do," she stumbled over her words which causes Jack to groan softly. However, for some reason, just having him so close by makes her feel strong with herself. "But, why should I care? You cheated on me last night. On the most important night of my life. And I find you making out with some girl!?" She said in an irritated tone towards James.

James glares at her and shakes his head, "That wasn't me…"

Jack laughs loudly and holds his hand out, breathing out snow and his hand molds it into a snowball. Dahlia just shakes her head, "It was you..I saw you and heard her freakin' moan your name. It is over, for good."

She then turns her back to him but he tightly grabs onto her arm. His hand crushes her arm and her blue eyes widen, a sudden feeling of fear rushes through her body. He is reminding her of her father. That fear is about to engulf her. Quickly, a snowball is thrown at James's face and then another and another till James lets her go. Quickly, Dahlia walks away while James looks for the person who was throwing the snowballs. Dahlia finally stops walking when she is on her way back home, and she hears someone calling her name but it isn't Jack.

It's Jamie.

A small smile crosses her face seeing Jamie with one of his friends, Cupcake, that's what they called her at least. Jamie hugs her and she just pats his head. He smiles up at her and Cupcake waves over at her. Dahlia however notices that Cupcake has dark circles under her eyes, like she hasn't been sleeping. That bothers Dahlia but she doesn't ask.

"Hey, my mom asked if you could babysit me tonight," Jamie said as he release Dahlia. "You know, if you aren't too busy."

Dahlia smiles and shurgs, "Sure, besides I rather be with you than be all alone in my house."

Jamie smiles brightly, exposing his toothless smile. "Okay! I'll see you at six! Oh, and I'm sure Jack will be glad to see you."

Dahlia seems a bit stunned hearing Jamie say his name, but the two already left Dahlia in the street. She turns her head to watch them running down the street together, throwing snowballs at eachother.

"They are good kids," Jack said from behind her which causes her to almost jump out of her skin.

"Don't do that!" She said as she begins to walk to her house and Jack follows her once again.

"Are you going to stay away from that jerk for now on?" Jack questioned as he floats beside her, his back turned to the cement and his head turned to face her.

Dahlia looks over to him and then straight ahead of her. "It's none of your business Jack."

Jack frowns and keeps looking at him with a worried expression on his face. "Yes it is, it is my business. I'm sick of that asshole being a jerk to you, you out of all people. You're talented and kind…and…."

Dahlia looks over to him with an livid expression on her face, "And, and, and, what!?"

Jack looks away from her and towards the forest, "and beautiful. But, not like those models I see on tv or magazines. They are fake beauties, **like photo-shoot broads**. They are ugly on the inside, nothing is nice about them. But, I mean, yeah, you're great to look at and I could stare at you all day and night. You're beautiful inside, and it shines on the outside. Like, when people see you, they know you are kind because it shines through the inside and shines on you. And, people like you, shouldn't waste their precious time on assholes like James."

Dahlia just stares at him and stops dead in her tracks. Her heart is racing within her chest. Jack notices that she stopped and his feet land on the cement. Dahlia shakes her head when she feels tears form at the corner of her eyes. Jack notices and quickly walks over to her, his hands reach for her face but he quickly pulls them away.

"I didn't mean to make you upset…I know I'm not good with words. But God, I didn't think I was that terrible," he spoke in a gentle tone as he looks over at her with a troubled expression on his pale face.

She wipes her hands over her eyes and shakes her head, "No…no…it was…so…kind what you said. No one has ever said that to me, like ever. And, I never knew anyone felt that way towards me," she tries to gather herself back to her strong demeanor. "So thank you…for everything you said."

Jack just smiles and nods. Dahlia begins with walk with him towards her house. The whole time she was telling herself not to fall in love with him. But, it seems difficult now.


	13. Dead Memories

**December**

"_You told me to love you, and I did._

_Tied my soul into a knot and got me to submit_

_So when I got away, I only kept my scars_

_The other me is gone_

_Now I don't know where I belong_

_And we were never alive_

_And we won't be born again_

_But I'll never survive  
With dead memories in my heart__**"**_  
-**Slipknot, Dead Memories**

"Jamie! Stop, look at what you did you crazy kid. You got cream cheese all over my hair!" said Dahlia as she smiles brightly at the young boy sitting on a kitchen counter top.

The boy only smiles up at her, holding the package of cream cheese in his small hands. Dahlia shakes her head, flipping her hair over her face, picking out the cream cheese from her raven locks. The left over sandwiches are sitting on the kitchen's countertop beside Jamie. Dahlia takes the cream cheese holder from the young boy and places it back into the fridge. Jamie swings his feet back and forth as he looks around the kitchen, then grabs his strawberry and cream cheese sandwich. The fridge's door closes and Dahlia looks over the closed window, her heart sinks down to her stomach. She was hoping that Jack would come to visit her. He left her in a hurry when they reached her house. What does he do when he isn't with her? Does he have a certain job since he is a winter spirit? She never asked him.

Jamie hops off the counter top, licking his fingers from the leftover cream cheese as he walks into the messy den. Abby lifts her head up when she spots Jamie walking into the den. Her tail begins to wag, and she stands up, jumping onto the couch beside Jamie. Dahlia walks inside after she put the leftover sandwiches in the fridge and got all the cheese out of her jet black locks. The young boy yawns loudly and covers his mouth with his hand. Abby lays down beside him and places her head onto his lap. The den is a complete mess from the games they played in the den with his friends such as twister and other broad games, Dahlia didn't feel like cleaning it up so she just left everything on the ground.

Dahlia walks into the den and turns off the TV with the remote. Jamie pouts but rubs his sleepy eyes.

"Dahlia," Jamie started to talk but yawns loudly. "Tell me a bedtime story."

Dahlia blinks and sighs softly. "I'm not good with stories…you know that."

Jamie lies down on the couch, his head resting on Abby's body. The young girl sighs gently but sits down beside Jamie's bare feet. Staring at her bare feet she tries to think of a story, but nothing comes up.

"Tell me about you meeting Jack," Jamie said with a yawn in his voice.

Dahlia quickly turns her head to look at him with a surprised look upon her pale face. "How do you know about him?" Dahlia questioned.

Jamie only smiles and closes his eyes, "We talk a lot…he talks about you a lot. Even before he met you…"

Dahlia's crystal eyes widen and a tiny smile grows across her face. He knew her before? How? How long has he known of her? So many questions run through her mind and she isn't sure how to get them answered. However, she just keeps the smile on her face as she looks over to the sleepy young boy.

"Well," she starts off as she moves closer to the small boy. "Remember my piano show?"

Jamie only nods and rubs his eyes with his small fists.

"Well, after the show….I felt terrible. I didn't even stay to hear who won or anything. But my teacher told me they won't tell until a few days. But, back to the story. I ran out looking for my mother and even for my…boyfriend, James. But I couldn't find them. Let's just say I had a bad run in with James and I ran away. Feeling completely alone, I just sat down on the edge of the sidewalk," she runs her hand through her long locks and she can feel Jamie staring at her. "But, just when I felt all alone. He showed up. I met him a few times before but I never thought he was real. That was until that night. When I knew he was real…it was the greatest feeling in the whole world."

Jamie smiles up at her and closes his eyes slowly. "That's a good story," he whispered with a loud yawn.

Dahlia stands up from the couch and begins to pick up the toys from the ground. A sound at the window made Dahlia jump a little in her seat. Her head snaps over to the den's window and finds it covered in frost, with a single handprint on the glass. A tiny smile grows over her face, knowing Jack is somewhere outside. Her eyes move down to the small boy and notices he is asleep. Walking over to the couch, she gathers the small boy in her arms and carries him upstairs. When she reaches his arm, she places him on his bed and pulls the covers over his body. Abby jumps onto the bed and cuddles up beside him. Dahlia looks down at the young boy as he sleeps peacefully, so innocent and pure. The sight touches her hard heart.

Soon, she walks out of the room, closing it behind her after she turned off the light in his room. She makes her way downstairs and when her feet touch the hard wood floors, the feeling causes a shiver down her spine. Her blue eyes move towards the window but she smiles softly. The window is wide open with frost everywhere on the glass. Walking over, she places her hands onto the window's edge and begins to close it until two hands cover her eyes.

"Don't do that. You know that's the only way I can come inside," a voice whispered into her ear. The voice she has grown to love and need. Jack's voice. His cold breath dances across her ear, leaving small frostbites on it.

Dahlia stands perfectly still and then she moves her shaking hands, placing them on top of his. The boy gasps softly from her touch. Quickly, he removes his hands from her face and places them in the pocket of his navy blue hoodie. Dahlia isn't sure why he is always so fearful of her touch. Before she can ask, Jack grabs his wooden staff and stands in front of the open window. As if she knows what is about to happen, she quickly puts on her snow boots that were lying on the floor.

"Come on…I want to show you something," Jack said as he extends his hand out for her.

Without thinking twice, Dahlia grabs his hand and he flies out the window. Dahlia clings to his body as he flies through the chilly air, hovering over the neighborhood. All the houses have their lights out, and it is dead silence throughout the neighborhood. Her long black waves fly around her face, but she tries to hold her hair back with one hand. Jack flies towards the forest that surrounds the small town and he lands in the heart of the woods. His bare feet touch the ground and then Dahlia's snow boots do the same. Her hands release from his body and she walks around the area. It's cold and dark, almost gloomy atmosphere. There is a frozen lake beside large boulders; she hasn't been to this area in a long, long time. The last time she was here was when she was around fifteen, and that was three years ago. Jack walks around the area, and she notices his face seems distant. His icy eyes scan the area as he walks over to the frozen lake.

Why did he bring her here anyway?

"What?" Jack asked with a loud voice, turning his attention to Dahlia.

She only raises her brow and shrugs her shoulder, "What? I didn't say anything."

Jack's icy hues widen and he shakes his head. "Yes you did…someone called my name and it's just you and me out here," he spoke with a small sort of panic in his voice.

Dahlia stares at him and only shakes her head, "I promise I didn't say your name. Are you okay?"

Jack groans loudly and points his staff at a rock, freezing it, and then kicking it with his bare foot. "I _**always **_here my name being called here and I don't know why. Always, right here. Like, I left something behind…or someone. I thought it was you…but the voice I hear is difference…I don't understand," he lowers himself to the ground as he spoke in such a small voice. He drops his wooden staff to the ground and holds his snow like face.

Dahlia's blue eyes widen seeing him in this state. Never in her life did she think she would see him this way. Her blue eyes move around the area, hoping to find someone, the person tormenting his mind. But she doesn't see anyone. However, she notices a wooden bed. Just a bed. A bed all alone, in the dead grass. She looks over to Jack who is playing with the dead grass, his face distorted.

Slowly, Dahlia walks over to the wooden bed and she studies it. The bed is broken right in the middle and there is a large hole that leads to somewhere. Does an animal live there? And why is there a bed in the middle of the field. A strange emotion takes over her body, and the only thing she wants is to be close to the bed. Like it is calling her name.

_Dahlia? Is that you?_

Dahlia's eyes widen. "MOM!" She yells and leans closer to the dark hole.

_Dahlia hunny, why are you up there? Help me, please!_

Without thinking, Dahlia jumps onto the wooden bed and places one leg down into the hole. A sudden darkness takes over her mind as her leg is engulfed in the shadows. Then she swings her other leg into the hole, her whole lower surrounded in the shadows. Her fingers grip to the wooden planks of the bed, and she exhales deeply. However, a cold hand grips to her arm and pulls her whole body out of the shady hole.

"Where are you going? Down a hole? What are you thinking!?" Jack's voice is full of concern and his face is painted with panic.

Dahlia shakes her head and looks back to the hole, "NO! I have to go back…my mom is in there!" Her voice is full of panic which causes Jack's face to soften.

He only shushes her with a soft voice and runs both of his hands through her wavy black locks and then gently holds her face.

"Your mom is gone for the weekend in New York….remember?" He spoke to her in a gentle voice.

Her eyes widen, he's right. Then how come she heard her? That was her voice.

"Did you hear her?" She questioned the winter spirit.

He only shakes his head which causes the young girl to tightly close her eyes. Maybe, she was just hearing things. That has to be it.

Jack holds her close, and like a child, she wraps her arms around his neck. Holding him close to her body. His arms wrap underneath her body, cradling her close to him as her legs wrap around his waist. Pressing her face into his neck, she stares back at the wooden bed. And for a split second she could see black sand crawling out towards them, but retreated back into the darkness of the hole. Her grip on his tightens which causes him to turn around towards the wooden bed, but the sand disappears before he can see it.

"What's wrong?" He asked her softly.

She only shakes her head and closes her eyes. Then, the boy kicks his feet off the ground, holding her body with one hand and holding his wooden staff in the other. Slowly, he flies away from the woodened area but Dahlia looks back at it. All she wants is to go back and go down the hole, to know who or what is down there. And why she heard her mother's voice down there.

Before she even knew it, Jack lands beside Jamie's house and places Dahlia onto the snowy ground. They are right at the opened window, and she places one leg through the window but Jack places his hand on the side of her pale face.

"I can't stay with you tonight," he stated as he gently caresses the side of her face. "But I will come if I finish early…just…don't go back to that place without me. Okay?"

Why can't he stay with her? He has since they met, why is tonight so different? And why can't she go back without him? Dahlia shallows the lump in her throat, she can't promise. She has to know why that area calls for her. Why she has a need to go back right now. She only nods which causes Jack to smile gently, showing off his pearly white teeth.

"Okay! Good…please get some sleep," he said as he places a cold hand on the side of her face. He runs his pale hand down her face, and it lingers down at her chin. He leans in towards her face but his hand begins to shake. Quickly, he moves his hand from her soft face and flies up into the air. Dahlia just stands there, her heart racing inside of her chest, but she just shakes her head. They are friends, nothing more.

Dahlia climbs in through the window and then locks it behind her. Her blue eyes look outside towards the forest. Her arms quickly cross over her body from a sudden chill that ran down her spine. There is something about that area that scares her and fills her with curiosity.


	14. Protectors

_(Okay, I saw the movie a few days ago. And I started my story before the movie so I'm trying to connect the movie and mold it to my own way. At the moment, jack hasn't gained his memories yet. Just so yall aren't confused. Anyway, I will try to keep up with the movie but I do want to mold into something darker.) _

**December**

"_Say your prayers little one_  
_Don't forget my son_  
_To include everyone_  
_I tuck you in_  
_Warm within_  
_Keep you free from sin_  
_'Til the sandman he comes_

_Sleep with one eye open_  
_Gripping your pillow tight_

_Exit light_  
_Enter night_  
_Take my hand_  
_We're off to never never-land**"**_

_**-Enter Sandman, Metallica **_

**Jack's Point of View**

Leaving Dahlia all alone for the night was the hardest thing Jack had to do. He just wanted to stay with her and Jamie, just be a part of their lives. Why? He isn't sure. He has a longing to be part of their lives, especially Dahlia's. And that confuses him to no end. Why does he always want to be close to her? Protect her from the darkness in her life. He knows the answer deep within his mind, but he refuses to admit it to himself.

The wind brushes against his pale face as he stands on the branch of a tree. His feet attached to the cold branch as he hunches over with his arms resting on his knees. Jack watches as Dahlia closes the window and lock it. A feeling of relief fills his body, knowing she will be safe tonight. His icy hues stare at the shadowed window and then he pushes himself off the branch, flying up into the cold sky. The wind blows against his face, along with small snow pellets that have fallen from the sky. His icy hues stare down at the town until he notices the people he is looking for. He flies down towards the top of the building and lands quietly. He tightens the grip on his staff as he quietly walks up behind a large shadow. Jack raises his staff but the man turns around quickly, with a huge smile on his jolly face. Good old Saint Nick.

"Jack my boy," the older man yelled as he pats Jack on his back. "How have you bee'? Good? Course you have!"

Jack just smiles but rubs his back with his free hand. For the spirit of Christmas he sure can be rough. The old man of Christmas stands close to the edge of the building and caps his large hands. Then the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny appear beside the man. Baby tooth flies over to Jack and nuzzles against his pale face with a soft sigh. Jack just laughs softly with a smile on his face. The Easter bunny looks at North and shakes his head.

"It's too quiet mate…I don't like it," the bunny said as he rubs his ear with his back leg.

North only nods, "I agree…"

The tooth fairy sighs softly looking out into the distance of the night sky, "Things are so…different without sandy here…oh the poor children. What if they are having nightmares? If only he was still here…"

Jack tightly closes his eyes, replaying the fight in his mind. It was his entire fault, if only if was stronger and faster. Sandman is gone and it's his entire fault. He crosses his arms and turns his back to the true guardians. Why should be a guardian if he can't even protect the others? How could he protect children? He just isn't cut out for this and never will be. He rather be alone, and with Dahlia for the rest of his immortal life. His eyes widen just from the thought of that. Why does he think about her all the time!? She isn't that important to him. She's just a human.

"Jack?" Tooth asked gently to the winter spirit who is snapped back into reality. "Are you okay?"

Jack only nods and walks back over to the group. They peer down on the small town, and Jack closes his eyes. Tooth coughs softly and Jack's eyes soften, she is slowly losing her power. And he can't do anything about it. Her purple hues widen and she points a finger towards the street.

"LOOK!" She yells which causes the three men to grab their weapons. About ten shadow horses appear on top of the building where they stand, Bunny grabs his magically boomerangs while North reaches for his twin swords. Jack grip tightens to this wooden staff as he looks around at the dark horses who walk closer to them.

Then, dark sand appears in front of them and molds into the shape of a man. The sand then disappears and leaves a man, Pitch. Everyone grips to their weapons and Tooth flies right up in his face.

"Where are my teeth!? You monster, what do you want with them!? And my babies!?" She yells and in the blink of an eye Pitch disappears into the shadows.

"Oh not much….just fear to run their veins," a voice said from behind them, causing all the guardians to turn and look for the monster. "And for all of you to disappear. If their happiest memories are taken, they will forget about you. And I will take over again. It won't be long till your powers disappear _Toothiana."_

The Tooth Fairy glares at the horses and at the shadows that linger on the building. "We already got the teeth **Pitch! **You lost! We won!"

The man appears on the other side of the building, pressing his grey fingers together. "Some of the children didn't get your gifts…perhaps someone took the gifts before the morning came."

Toothiana's eyes widen and then look down towards the ground. The other guardians inhale deeply, they never thought about the fact that Pitch could take some gifts from the children.

Jack steps forward, pointing his staff towards the nightmare king. "She is still flying, so she still won!" He yelled, defending Totthiana who only smiles at the snow boy.

Pitch laughs loudly, an eerie laugh that sends a chill down Jack's spine. "Oh how heroic of you Jack, to defend her," the voice comes from behind them which causes all of them to look at the nightmare king. The king pets his horses as he walks past them, his fingers slipping through the black sand.

"I have many plans to get rid of you. But, what's the fun in telling you? However, I will tell you one thing…tell me do you think every child was born into a happy family?" Pitch asked as he stands beside his nightmare horses.

North snorts loudly, "Of course not, and it's our job to make them happy."

Pitch only nods, "But sometimes you don't make them happy…it just isn't meant to be. No matter how hard you try. I'm sure little _Toothiana_ has seen many memories of tormented children who slip into darkness. Holding their _precious memories_ knowing that they had a terrible life, no matter how hard you all tired to make them. What a sad little life you live Toothiana."

The Tooth Fairy's eyes widen and her eyes stare at the cement. As if his words have drained her energy to fight back. North and Bunny watch the nightmare king with a concern in their eyes.

"What are you sayin' Pitch?" North asked with venom in his voice.

Pitch disappears into the darkness of the building but his shadow appears underneath them. "What I am saying is…if I can't defeat you. I will destroy their dreams and show them their fears, the fears that will always haunt them forever and cause them so much pain that they won't believe in anything anymore. It will end all of you, when a child is always depressed they won't have time to think of the **Easter Bunny, **_The Tooth Fairy, _or _**Saint Nick**_**. **I will rule, and I will feed off their madness."

Easter's grip on his boom bangs tightens and throws it onto the shadow of Pitch. "YOU MONSTER! I WON'T LET YOU DESTORY THE CHILDREN!"

The nightmare king only laughs loudly and appears behind his nightmare horses. "You can try," he said before his body disappears into the darkness, leaving only his bright yellow eyes.

The horses take off into the darkness and quickly all the guardians run after them. Jack pushes himself off the building and follows five horses that run towards the neighborhood. In the blink of an eye, they all disappear. Jack cruses loudly and flies quickly past houses, peering into every bedroom window to make sure the horses aren't there. His icy hues widen when he spots one in the bedroom of a young girl, the horse transforms into a large finger and touches the girl's forehead causing her to stir in her bed and the black sand molds into a terrifying creature that hovers over her head. Black sand dripping from its mouth and falls onto her head, which causes her to whimper loudly in her sleep. Jack opens the window and quickly flies inside, his wooden staff touches the black sand and it freezes. The small child stops stirring and a small smile appears on her face.

Jack flies out of the window and back into the crisp winter air. His frozen hues scan the dark neighborhood and he spots a horse flying into a window. A soft growl escapes his pastel lips as he flies towards the house. The horse walks around the small bed of the child and then transforms into sand that flies around the small boy's head, causing the boy to stir and whimper in his sleep. Jack quickly unlocks the bedroom window and jumps inside. The sand is molding into a large wolf that growls at the winter spirit. Jack's wooden staff takes the black sand, freezing the black wolf and it disappears into nothing. The young child in the bed stops whimpering and a peaceful expression covers his face.

Jack smiles to himself as he flies out of the boy's room. He floats outside as he locks the window firmly, making sure no horses can disturb the boy again. He then flies up into the cold air and looks around for other nightmare horses. But he can't see any at the moment. Did the others find them and destroy them?

A loud laughter is heard all around Jack, the laugh causes shivers down his spine and goosebumps to grow on his pale skin. His icy hues look around the area and then he spots the shadow of Pitch on the road. Jack flies down to the street, his bare feet touching the rough road. Gripping to his wooden staff, he looks around the area.

"Poor little Jack…this isn't your fight," Pitch said from the right side of Jack.

Jack quickly turns but he is gone. His shadow hanging on the side of a white house.

"Why are you even doing this? Fighting a battle that isn't yours? Fighting for people who don't care about you? It seems so _foolish._ You're better than this. But, you're scared that if you don't fight that they won't accept you," the voice said from behind him.

Jack turns around and swings his staff, but misses him just by an inch. Jack looks around hastily as he grips to his wooden staff. The Nightmare appears beside a green car, leaning against it.

"And you're scared that no one will _ever _believe in you. Sure you have two kids, but you want more," the monster said in a dark voice that echoes in Jack's head.

"SHUT UP!" Jack yells and points his staff at the nightmare king. A bright blue beam appears and hits the car, making the alarm to go off. Jack growls and shakes his head, trying to get his voice out of his head. Pitch's shadow appears back on the main road.

"You better be careful with spending your time with humans. Especially that girl. You're scared that she will never accept you. Am I right?" The Nightmare king spoke in a smug tone which caused Jack's brows to furrow on his forehead. The shadow moves from the street to the side of a house.

"Speaking of your _believers, _have you checked up on them. Sure would be a shame if something happened to them…wouldn't it?" The Nightmare king said with a smirk on his face.

Jack's blue eyes widen and quickly he pushes himself off the ground with his feet. He flies over to Jamie's house and with a fearful expression on his, looks inside all the windows. He peers into Jamie's room and the boy is sleeping perfectly fine, no nightmares are dancing around his head. Flying back down to the den's window, he finds Dahlia sleeping with a pillow wrapped in her arms, no nightmares around her.

Jack's eyes widen, did Pitch trick him?

In the distance he can hear a child's scream and his heart sinks down to the pit of his stomach. He was tricked. Quickly he flies over to the scream. As he flies away, the shadow appears beside the den's window and Pitch appears in front of the window, peering inside. His yellow hues stare at the young girl sleeping on the couch and a dark smug appears on his face. Two horses appear beside him, snorting loudly and their yellows eyes beaming brightly.

"Such a shame…poor little Jack leaving his believers behind," Pitch said to his horses who only snort in reply.

The Nightmare King stares at the young girl and a large smirk appears on his gray skin. "She's perfect…so much fear within her mind. I could use her energy forever, his fear is perfect."

The Nightmare King then gasps loudly when a boomerang hits him in his back. The two horses cry out loudly and they all turn to the side. The Easter Bunny stands on a fence, and his large paw is extending up, catching the magical boomerang. Pitch growls as he pushes the snow off his long black cloak.

"Get him," he commands his horses that rapidly attack the bunny. Pitch disappears into the shadow of a tree.

Jack made his way to the house where the girl was screaming but he couldn't even find a girl in the house. In fact, there was no one there. The house was empty. Jack angrily kicks the house's door, feeling like a fool for being tricked by Pitch, yet again. Jack runs his hand through his snow like hair as he walks away from the house.

North jumps down in front of Jack with his twin swords in his large hands, "Jack my boy! We did it, we got all the horses. You got the ones you chased after, correct?"

Jack only nods, "Yeah I got them…"

North laughs loudly and pats the snow spirit's back with extra strength causing Jack to groan. The Tooth Fairy flies down to two men with a smile on her beautiful face and the small fairy flies over to Jack, as if to make sure he is okay. Then, Bunny appears from a hole in the ground and stands in front of them with an angry expression on his furry face.

"I almost had Pitch, mate. Almost…but he disappeared into the shadows like a coward."

"No matter Bunny…now let's go back to the Pole. We need to make sure Christmas comes for the children, yes?" North said as he claps his large hands together.

Out of the sky appears his beautiful sleigh with all the reindeer. The sleigh lands a bit loudly on the road and the raindeer snort loudly, causing their breath to be seen in the crisp, cold air. North climbs into the front seat, grapping hold of the leather ropes that hold the reindeer. Bunny stares at the sleigh but shakes his head.

"I-I'll just take my tunnels, mate…" he said as he quickly tapped his foot and disappears into the road, the hole closes up leaving only a flower behind.

Tooth smiles over to Jack, "Coming Jack?"

Jack shakes his head, "N-No…I'll…meet you guys later. I have stuff I need to do.."

North only nods and Tooth sits down beside the saint, her wings resting on her back. Baby Tooth flies over to Jack and nuzzles up against his face before flying over to her mother. North slaps the ropes on the reindeer, causing them to run and then fly up into the sky. Jack waves goodbye to them until they disappear from his sight.

Jack flies over to Jamie's house, landing in front of the den's window. He quickly unlocks the window and quietly slides it up so he can climb inside the dark house. Closing the window behind him, and placing his wooden staff on the floor underneath the window. He walks over to the couch where Dahlia is sleeping, clinging to the pillow in her hands and is pressed up against her body. Jack smiles softly from the innocent look on her pale features. He sits down beside him and her body slowly begins to stir. His pale hand rests on her head and a soft sighs escapes her rosy lips. Jack just stares down at her; something about her makes the strings of his heart ache for her. He doesn't understand how one girl could do this to him. The girl moves closer to the snow boy, which causes him to flinch for only a second and a small smile to grow across his face.

As the night drags on, Jack feels like something or someone is watching them. And he doesn't like the feeling whatsoever.


	15. Trip The Darkness

**December**

"Follow me, follow me  
As I trip the darkness  
One more time  
Follow me, follow me  
I awake from madness  
Just in time**"  
**-_Trip The Darkness, Lacuna Coil_

Perhaps waking up without Jack was the worst feeling Dahlia has had in a long time. And the fact that he didn't stay with her that night was terrible as well. Where did he go anyway? Does he have duties that she isn't aware of? Her head moves off the pillows and her long black locks cover most of her face, the sun shining brightly into the room.

As she looks around the clean den, she pushes her messy locks behind her face. Doing a double take of the den she couldn't help but to raise a brow. The den is spotless. Did Jack come back and clean it up for her? Slowly, she stands up from the couch and up the large staircase. She checks up on Jamie who is spread out on his bed with his covers on the hardwood floor and his mouth wide open. Even in his silly sleep he looks so innocent. She leaves him alone so he can sleep in, besides it's Saturday. Everyone should be sleeping in. Walking into Jamie's room, she notices the kid kicked off his covers once again. Sighing, she leans down and picks them up, covering his body with them once again. As she covers his body, a chill runs down her spine and she just laughs.

"Very funny Jack," she quickly turns around, but her crystal hues widen she doesn't see anyone.

She shakes her head, she must be going crazy. Quickly, she covers up the small boy who smiles in his sleep. Dahlia then looks over to the window and she narrows her eyes at the sight of black sand forming around the edges. Slowly, she walks over towards the window and her eyes widen seeing the sand up close. Her hand extends out, her fingertips running through the sand but it quickly disappears right before her eyes which causes her flinch back. The black sand travels through the air and into the forest. The forest she and Jack went to the other night. She has to know what the sand is and why her mother's voice was coming from that part of the forest.

However, she quickly remembers Jack's command, "_…just…don't go back to that place without me. Okay?"_

She takes a long hot shower and washes her body. Then blow dries her wet hair into her full black locks. Then she changes into an oversized sweater and black leggings with snow boots, and a knit cap over her full locks. As she walks back downstairs, she finds Jamie's parents hanging up their jackets.

"Oh thank you Dahlia! Here is some money…if you need anything you know who to call," Jamie's mother said to the raven haired girl with a smile on her face.

Dahlia stuffs the money into her snow boot and she walks into the cold outdoors. The air outside is filled with the laughter of children as they play in the snow and the voices of concerned parents as well. As she walks, her boots crush the snow beneath. She was never a fan of winter, it kills all the beautiful flowers and all the animals leave for the winter. It is just dark, cold, and dreadful. A soft meow is heard beside her and her eyes move down to see a small cat. Dahlia leans down and gently pets the black cat, causing it to purr loudly. For as long as she can remember, animals always loved her and were strangely drawn to her. Soon, the cat hops up onto a wooden fence and leaves Dahlia alone.

She continues her way back to her house but stops when she reaches the forest that is right beside her house, her eyes stare at it and then towards her house. Her eyes sadden knowing no one will be home waiting for her. Her house is the only horse on the street without Christmas lights or even a tree.

_Dahlia._

She quickly turns her head towards the forest when she hears Jack's voice.

"Jack?" she asks loudly, but doesn't get an answer.

Furrowing her brows she quickly walks into the forest, stepping on dead tree limbs and snow as she does. Finally, she reaches the area that has the large rocks and the frozen lake. Dahlia's blue eyes soften, all she can think about are all the bad memories she experienced here. She only had one good memory when she was here, but even then it wasn't really good.

Soon she remembers why she came here in the first place, Jack is here, somewhere. She checks behind the rocks and even looks up towards the trees but she doesn't see anyone or anything for that matter. Her brows furrow and she crosses her arm, Jack is probably just playing a stupid game with her.

"Okay Jack you win! Come out already," she yelled loudly as she looks around.

No answer. Nothing. Her eyes then land on the wooden bed from the other night, and then in a split second, she has a need to go over to it. Slowly, she walks over to the bed and looks down into the dark hole. Deep down, she knows it is a bad idea to go in there but she has to know why she is so drawn to it. Why it calls her name. Hesitantly, she places one foot into the hole and a chill runs down her spine.

_Dahlia? Is that you? Come on…I'm down here!_

Dahlia's crystal hues widen, it's Jack's voice once again. But why is down in the hole? The same hole he told her to stay out of? She then places her other foot into the hole and jumps into it, landing harshly onto the cold dirt. The hole doesn't go straight down but straight ahead, as if it leads somewhere. Her feet begin to move slowly but she looks back towards the entrance and begins to worry the hole might cave in.

_Dahlia! Come on!_

Jack's voice once again but he seems to be in pain this time. She can't just leave him here. What if he is hurt? Or worse, what if he is dying?

"I'm coming!" she yelled back towards the voice that seemed to echo through the hole.

She places her hand onto the hole's wall and black sand appears on her hand, causing her to scream and quickly move her hand away from the wall. However within her mind a memory plays, just a small vision of the memory.

_"DADDY! STOP!" Dahlia screamed as a older man holds her over the lake with his large hands, as he on a large rock. Her feet dangle in mid air, and fear rushes through her mind. The man only laughs, his laugh reeks of alcohol and tobacco. Then, he releases her body and watches her fall down into the water. _

The memory stops right there causing Dahlia to retreat away from the hole, back towards the entrance. Her heart is racing and her body feels cold, almost empty. Fear takes over her entire body and she knows she has to get out of here, right now. However, as she looks around the hole seems so much darker and larger. The light from the entrance is gone, leaving her all alone in the dark. A man's laughter can be heard all around her, causing her ears to ring.

"DAHLIA ARE YOU DOWN THERE?" A voice calls for her, but it seems so far away.

Dahlia moves her head up and spots a small bit of light and white hair. It must be the entrance. JACK! It seems like his voice broke the darkness, because now she can see the entrance perfectly. She quickly climbs up towards the opening of the hole, where she spots his hand for her to grab. Before she can grab onto his hand, black sand wraps around her ankles, trying to pull her back down into the darkness. Her fingers touch the palm of his hand before the sand pulls her back into the darkness causing her to scream. Then, Jack's hand grabs a hold of her hand and quickly pulls her up back into the light, holding her close to his body. The sun's rays never felt better on her, nor did the cold air. Dahlia wraps her arms around his body tightly, placing her head onto his chest, ignoring the fact he is so cold that her face is about to go numb.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry…I should have listened to you…I'm sorry Jack. I'm so sorry!" She mumbled to him, keeping her head on his chest. She tries desperately to keep her tears back; she can't be weak in front of him. Not now.

The winter spirit releases his wooden staff and holds her tightly with both of his hands. Placing his head against hers as one of his hands runs through her long black locks. Dahlia slowly relaxes in his arms and closes her eyes.

"I should have been here to stop you," he whispers into her hair.

She only shakes her head, "I-I….I should have listened to you…I'm so sorry. I won't do it again I promise!"

Quickly, Jack releases her and roughly pushes her to the side. Before she can yell at him, Jack grabs his wooden staff and a bright blue beam appears out of the top, attacking the black sand that is crawling out of the hole. The beam freezes the black sand into ice and Jack's presses his staff into the ice until it breaks. Destroying the sand as well. He shakes his head and mumbles something to himself, it almost sounded like Pitch. But she isn't sure.

Jack walks back over to her and grabs her hand tightly, "We need to get out of here."

Dahlia doesn't answer him as he walks swiftly through the forest and back into the neighborhood. He then leads her back to her house and once they reach the front door, she unlocks it for both of them. Inside the house it is dark and cold, her mother probably forgot to turn on the heat before she left for New York. Jack locks the door behind them and he places his staff on the couch, and then walks around the large den. Dahlia watches him carefully, unsure why he is so worried. But, she has a feeling he knows something that she doesn't know.

Jack then stops his pacing and holds his hands together, his whole body tense. "Dahlia…I need you to do me a favor," he said in a small but almost breaking voice.

Dahlia nods, "Anything!  
"Go upstairs and play me something…anything…please."

Dahlia's eyes widen from his statement and her heart races within her chest. He wants her to play a song, for him? No one has ever asked her to do that before, no one! She runs up the staircase and opens her bedroom door, then walks over to her grand piano. She quickly looks around for a good sheet of music and she finally finds one that she has been saving for a moment like this, when someone actually wanted to hear her play the piano. The song is called, _Winter Sonata: Only You. _She places the sheet of music onto the piano and her fingers rest on the white keys. Inhaling and then exhaling, her fingers begin to slowly move of the keys and as she plays she closes her eyes. As she plays the song, a story plays throughout her mind. A story about her and Jack, from the first time she saw him in the trees. To the note her left her on the window, to the night he took her flying around the town. To throwing snowballs at Jamie, and even freezing him. But most of all, the night she found of he was real. How her heart sang when she found out she could be around him all the time, and even touch him.

Her fingers stop moving once she reaches the end of the song. She smiles to herself, knowing she did a good job. Then, arms wrap around her body and Jack presses his face into her neck. Dahlia's face turns a soft shade of pink from his cold embrace but smiles softly.

"I should have been there, I'm sorry…" she whispers into her neck.

Dahlia shakes her head, placing her hands onto the sleeves of his hooide. "Don't say that…I'm the one who missed up, not you," she whispers back to him.

Jack sighs softly, his cold breath hits her neck like winter breeze. He tightens his grip around her and doesn't say anything. Dahlia leans into his body which causes him to sigh softly in a pleasant like tone.

They stay in that embrace for a long time and in that moment it seems like everything stayed frozen.


	16. Vessel

**December **

"_What has come over me  
What madness taken hold of my heart  
To run away, the only answer  
Pulling me away  
To fall upon the night  
The source of my recovery  
Sweet shadow taking hold of the light  
Another day has been devoured  
Calling me away, begging the question  
Why"  
-__**T**__he Night, Disturbed_

The moon shines brightly into the bedroom of Dahlia. Her opened window allows a small breeze to come inside and gently caress her face. Dahlia is pressed up against the winter spirit who is laying on his back, one arm wrapped around her small body. The girl's face is pressed up against his chest, inhaling his wintery scent as she sleeps soundly. Jack looks down at the girl and a small smile grows across his pale features. He raises his hand and ever so gently strokes her smooth face down to her chin. Dahlia only mumbles in her sleep and buries her face deeper into his chest. During her deep sleep the winter spirit leaned down and pressed his cold lips to her forehead.

"I'll be back soon…just stay asleep," he whispered gently to her.

Dahlia just stirs in her sleep and rolls onto her side, pulling her legs to her chest. A soft thump could be heard from behind her, meaning the window closed and Jack was gone. Dahlia is still shivering from his cold touch but it doesn't matter to her. It's like she is use to it and desires it all the time. The house is silent, not a sound was heard anywhere. One sound was heard and it is the breathing of Dahlia. That's it. However, outside her window a shadow appears and the shadow molds into the shape of a dark man. The man opens the window slowly and slides inside, like a snake. Staying close to the ground and its figure glued to the ground, like a shadow. The shadow then appears right at the foot of Dahlia's bed and emerges from the ground. No longer is a shadow, the figure a man. A man with piercing golden eyes and grey skin, wearing a long black cloak.

The dark figure walks over to Dahlia with his hands behind his back. Then, black sand forms beside him, molding into the shape of a horse. The horse snarls at the sleeping girl but the dark figure just hushes it with a gentle touch on the brim of its nose.

"Hush…we don't want to wake her…do we?" The figure asked the horse with a dark smirk on his face. Then, his golden eyes turn a shade darker and he looks to the horse. "You know what to do…"

The horse snarls loudly and turns into a cloud of black sand that forms around her head. She is no longer in a peaceful slumber, now she is tossing and turning in her bed. Kicking the covers off her body as well. The man just laughs and presses his hands together.

"Don't fight it sweetheart…I need your fear to strengthen me…" the figure said to the sleeping girl and then he disappears into the shadow of her window.

_The sound of feet rushing through the vast forest can be heard and the panting of a girl as well. A small girl is running through the forest, avoiding the limbs, her long black curls flying behind her. She can't be more than nine or ten. The girl runs out towards the clearing of the forest, where a large lake stands with boulders surroundings it. Slowly the panting stops and the small girl rest her hands on her knees; her long hair covering most of her pale features. The girl then looks up but collapses to her knees. Tears are stinging her eyes but she only wipes them away with the back of her shaking hands. Then, the sound of footsteps is head right before her. The girl inhales loudly but slowly looks up only to see a small deer before her. A smile breaks out from her face and the deer nuzzles its face against hers. The young girl just laughs gently and wraps her arms around the deer's neck. However, the deer begins to panic and runs off back into the forest. Dahlia's crystal hues widen and she quickly turns her head around, but a hand grabs a thick wad of her black locks. A soft whimper escapes her lips as the hand grips to her hair. Dahlia is forced to stand up, to face the man who causes her so much fear. Her father reeks of vodka and tobacco. _

"_Do you actually __**think **__you could out run me!?" The man yelled at her. _

_Dahlia only shakes her head, "…N-No..I-I-I mea…"_

"_Do you have any idea how much trouble you've been in my life since you were born!? Monica and I were perfectly fine until I got her pregnant. I never wanted to have you! EVER! You RUINED MY LIFE. Now, she spends all her time at her job and paying money for you to play that stupid keyboard. We were so happy before you came along! SO HAPPY! I even told her to get a fucking hanger up her vagina just to get rid of you. Well, I'm going to get rid of you once and for all."_

_Dahlia shakes her head but the man tightens his grip on her hair, dragging her over to the large lake. _

"_It will look like you just fell into the lake by accident…such a tragic story. Almost poetic. Don't you think?" Her drunken father asked with humor in his voice._

_Then he violently pushes her into the water, holing her head under the water. Her screams only cause bubbles to stir underneath the water. No one can hear her, nor save her. _

She quickly wakes up from her terrible nightmare because someone was shaking her whole body. However, she doesn't move her head from the pillow. Her arms cover her face and her legs curl up towards her chest. Her small frame is shaking violently and a sob escapes her lips. Refusing to look up, fearing that it is her father back from the dead. However, cold arms wrap around her body but she still refuses to look up.

"Jack was right about this girl. This isn't good…it seems Pitch is using this poor child as some sort of vessel for his power almost," a woman's gentle voice said from beside her.

"Agreed...seems there is only one answer…we take her back with us," an elder man's spoke from the other side of her.

"WHAT!? Take some _human _back with us who probably can't even see us. Are you out of your mind mate?" Another man's voice said from the foot of her bed.

"Oh Bunny come on…it will be fun to have a human back at my workshop, so quickly grab her and let's get on the sleigh."

The cold arms stay around her body, refusing to let her go. "No **kangaroo** I've got her," said the heavenly voice of Jack. But even knowing he is holding her, she refuses to move her arms from her head. The fear has taken over her body.

"You? You are tiny mate…but fine," the man's voice said.

Jack picks her up and cradles her close to his body. His freezing body is soothing to her and relaxing as well. Her body is removed from her bed and she buries her face into his chest, inhaling his wintery scent. Another hand rests on top of her head; the hand is soft and gentle. Like a feather. Slowly but surely she falls asleep once again. The last thing she heard was the sound of a leather whip and the sound of bells, also someone whispering "I'm sorry" over and over as they place their head on top of her forehead.


	17. Emotions

**December **

"_Notice me  
Take my hand  
Why are we  
Strangers when  
Our love is strong  
Why carry on without me?"  
-Everytime, Britney Spears_

**Jack's Point of View**

"How long is she going to sleep?" Jack asked angrily towards the Christmas spirit.

The two of them stand within a large guest room within the magical toy factory. Dahlia is sleeping soundly in a large bed with the covers wrapped around her small body. A yeti places a hot small towel over her forehead, hoping that will soothe her. The young girl only groans gently, turning her head towards the opened large balcony just a few steps from her bed. A small elf is peering over the bed, his large eyes staring at the girl. He raises his small hand, ready to poke her bare foot but the Yeit hits the elf over the head. North looks over towards the winter spirit as he strokes his long white beard.

"No telling…but do not fear Jack. She is in safe hands now. Pitch would not dare step into my toy factory with me here and even you. Besides Bunny and Tooth are watching the cities while we stay here. Pitch might be a brave but he isn't that much of a fool," the winter spirit said to the young boy.

Jack just growls gently to himself, obviously not satisfied with the old man's answer. He walks over to the large bed where Dahlia is now sleeping peacefully. However, her body is still curled up in a ball, with her legs up against her chest. Still in the position of fear. The old spirit watches the boy carefully as he strokes his long messy beard.

"Why do you care so much?" North asked.

Jack's crystal hues widen and he quickly turns his attention to the Christmas spirit. His mouth hangs opened, unsure how to answer the question without giving out too much information. He is positive the other guardians wouldn't accept the fact that he has been hanging out a human for so long. Jack only shrugs his narrow shoulders, keeping his back to North.

"Because, she's just a helpless human…wouldn't you care if some kid was being attacked by their own fears?" Jack said with a bit of venom within his voice causing the Christmas spirit to chuckle to himself.

"You care for her…and it almost seems like you _love _her," spoke North causing Jack to flinch at the word, love.

Love her? No, he can't love her. He just wants to protect her, not love her. However, isn't that the same thing? So many emotions run through his mind until a large hand pats on his shoulder.

"It is not wise to love a human Jack…they die, while we do not. Remember that," said North. "No matter what you think, they will grow old and die."

Then, the old spirit waves his hand for the Yeti to follow him out the door. Jack closes his eyes at the sound of the door closing behind the pair. Leaving him alone with the human whom he cares so much about, but he isn't sure why he cares so much. Jack sighs loudly and sits in a chair beside the large bed. He places his head into his hands, tightly closing his eyes. He only looks up when he hears Dahlia turning her body to the side, facing him. Jack smiles softly seeing her sleeping peacefully for once. He then stands up but sits down on the bed, running his hand through her messy black locks. The girl smiles in her sleep and moves closer to his body. Jack then lays down beside her, wrapping his arms around her body, pulling her even closer to him. Dahlia shifts her body, no longer in the state of fear. Her legs are stretched down on the bed, no longer curled up towards her chest. He places his head on top of hers, and places a kiss on top of her head. A sigh escapes her lips causing Jack to freeze his motions. He has never heard a human sigh like that, and it causes his heart to race. His eye lids drop as he pulls her closer to her body, feeling her heat radiating off her body.

Just watching her sleep in his arms makes Jack's heart ache from North's words. It's true; she will grow old and die. Leaving him forever, forever alone like he was years ago. It makes his heart break just imagining Dahlia dying. Knowing, he couldn't do anything to save her. He can't imagine his life without her now. Before, he was just a rebel who ruined people's grass and car windows with frost. Even starting snowballs hits just to get a rise out of humans. But now, everything seems so different.

The only question that runs through his mind is, was he ever a human? How did he die? Tooth told him he has memories of his past life, but Pitch stole them from him. Like every other child's memories. If only he knew he was. That way, he could know why the man on the moon chose him for this immortal life. If he was human, he could be with Dahlia, and die just like her.

The thoughts cause Jack to sigh loudly and bury his head into Dahlia's thick black locks. After a long moment, Dahlia stirs in his arms and yawns loudly. Jack stays completely still, unsure what to do or even say. Dahlia raises her head but places it onto the pillow, looking Jack right into his frozen hues. Jack looks to the side but then looks back over at her, running his hand down her pale face.

"I'm sorry…" he whispers gently to her.  
Dahlia only smiles at him and shakes her head, "You didn't do anything wrong."  
"Yes I did…I…I wasn't there to protect you from him. "  
"Jack, it's okay. All that matters is that you're here now…and you always somehow manage to save me."

Her words cause Jack to smile softly, and then he leans down to see her forehead. Dahlia only sighs softly from his cold lips. The sigh causes Jack's cold heart to slowly race within his chest. She then sits straight up, causing Jack to remove himself off the bed and stand on the hardwood floor. She rubs her eyes as she looks around the room.

"Wait, this isn't my house…" she mutters to herself and Jack smirks to himself.  
"Well, no…it's actually-" Before Jack could finish the large door opens and North walks in holding a tray of cookies, with two elves behind him.

"I thought you would like some cookies Jack," said North but his blue eyes widen seeing the Dahlia awake.

The sight makes Jack chuckle to himself and he turns his head towards Dahlia. The young girl has her mouth wide open and her soft crystal hues huge. Just like a child on Christmas day. Dahlia then smiles brightly, showing off her pearly white teeth.

"OH MY GOSH! YOU'RE…YOU'RE…**SANTA**!" She exclaims loudly and pulls her hands to her chest.

North seems a bit shocked that she can see him, however, he only laughs. North nods and has a large smile on his face, "Indeed I am. I brought you two cookies…perhaps when you feel better, Dahlia, you can tour my factory."

Dahlia's eyes widen, "Y-You…know my name?"  
North only laughs, "Of course! I've known you since you were this small," he lowers his hand to his knee causing Dahlia to smile. "So, of course I know you."

North hands the tray of cookies to one elf that slowly walks over to the bed, his shoes making a jingle sound as he walks. He then hops up onto the bed and sits right beside Dahlia, holding up the tray of cookies. Dahlia picks up a cookie but makes a disgusted face. The texture is moist, as if someone licked them. Jack looks over to the other elf that seems to be chewing on something, probably a cookie. Dahlia places the cookie back on the tray.

"I'm not really hungry, but thank you anyway." She said with a smile on her face.

North walks over to the pair and pats Jack roughly on his face, causing the winter spirit to groan softly. The elderly man places his massive hand on Dahlia's forehead and then nods his head.

"You seem to be fine now, so come along," North said as he picks up Dahlia as if she weighs nothing. Dahlia stands on the floor, almost still in shock that she is in the North Pole. North walks towards the door and Dahlia follow after him the two elves quickly walking behind the human. Jack watches them with a smile on his pale face. However, his frozen hues stare outside the balcony and then back to Dahlia's back. What if he could get his memories back, and figure out who he was? And maybe figure out if Dahlia can become like him? So he never has to watch her die or grow old. As if she could sense him watching her, she turns her head towards him. The elves stare up at her and then towards Jack. One of them sighs softly at the pair but the other one slaps it over the head, pulling it out of the room. Leaving Jack with the human.

"Aren't you coming Jack?" she asked.  
Jack shakes his head as he walks over to her. He lays his wooden staff onto the bed and then holds her soft face in his hands.  
"I…I need to do something very important. But I swear to you…I will be back by tonight….I promise," he whispers to her as his thumb caresses over her pale face.  
Dahlia's soft blue eyes stare into his, "Promise?"  
"I won't let anything…or anyone ever hurt you again," he whispered to her.

Jack nods and then he leans into her face, which causes Dahlia to close her eyes. Just seeing her so valuable makes his heart race within his freezing body. But he pulls away, afraid of touching her. Or making the wrong choice.

However, Dahlia wraps her arms around his neck and presses her lips against his. Jack's eyes widen but he presses his against hers. The texture of cold and heat sends a chill down his spine, as he quickly wraps his arms around her narrow waist pulling her close to him. His lips move over hers, teasing her in a way. He kisses her bottom lip and gently pulls on it, causing the human to sigh gently against his lips. Jack has never kissed anyone, but with her, it seems so natural. Her hands run through his white locks causing him to tighten his grip on her body. One of his hands moves to the side of her face, gently stroking it. Their lips stay tightly locked until he pulls away, but their foreheads still rest on one another.

A small smile grows on her face as she looks at him, "I've never…been kissed like that before."  
Jack smiles back, "Well, get used to it. I'm going to doing it a lot to you know." He then pulls away and places a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I have to go…but I will be back."

Jack walks away and grabs his wooden staff that was resting on the bed. He then walks onto the balcony but looks over his shoulder, he smiles over at the raven headed girl before he takes off into the wintery sky.


	18. The Power Of Belief

[[I wrote this chapter months ago but my computer went crazy and deleted it. So that's why it's taken me forever to update. I'm sorry it took me so long to update my fanfiction, I just lost interest with the story but thanks to certain people who gave me the motivation and tumblr. I am back with many ideas so this will be extremely long story, and if you stick around I promise not to disappoint. I have tons of ideas of darkness and even rebirth (wink,wink) I hope you enjoy this. Remember to review, it means a lot to me if you do! ]]

"_The moon is right.  
The spirit's up  
We're here tonight  
And that's enough.  
Simply having a wonderful Christmas time."_  
-_**The Beatles, Wonderful Christmas time**_

Being in Santa's shop seems like a dream to the young raven-headed girl. She's heard of the stories and tales of Saint Nick's shop but seeing it in person is beyond amazing. It's everything she thought it would be and more. As a child she heard about elves that run around and make toys, but there are Yetis who make the toys. Dahlia raises a brow as she watches them build toys such as trains and game boards. North looks down at the small girl and chuckles to himself.

"What's the matter? Never seen a Yeti before?" He asked.  
Dahlia only shakes her head, keeping her eyes on them. North strokes his long beard as he peers at his workers and the young girl.  
Dahlia and North continue to walk through the busy workshop. There are some elves that are playing around with bright lights, draping them over one another to look like Christmas trees.

Dahlia looks up at North, "I thought elves made the toys," she said gently and the peers back over to the elves. Two of them are fighting over a train, pulling it back and forth. Then it breaks into two pieces and one of the elves starts to weep loudly while the other one throws his broken piece to the ground. Another group of elves have their feet stuck in glue and are trying to get out, but have no luck. North leans down toward Dahlia.  
"We just let think they do," he whispers and he nods over to his elves.

They continue to walk and Dahlia's eyes are wide with a huge smile on her face. Christmas was never big in her family due to the situations in her life. However, being in Santa's workshop is too much for her to handle. She can't stop smiling and her heart is racing. Within the middle of the shop is a huge globe that has small bright lights within certain continents. She moves her head to the side, trying to figure out why there are only certain lights in certain areas. North notices her staring and chuckles to himself.

"You wonder why there are lights? Yes?" His voice is hardy but tender.  
Dahlia nods as she leans over the railing, peering down at the working Yetis.  
"Well, we have lights to make sure children believe in us. By us I mean, me, Bunny, Tooth, and…._Sandman." _  
Dahlia looks over to the elderly man when he spoke of the figure named Sandman. The way he said it causes her heart to sink. What happened to him? Did he die? But, can immortal people disappear from the planet? So many questions rush through her mind as she moves her gaze back to the large globe.  
"I-If that's true, then why are only some of the lights on?"

North's expression darkens and sighs softly. "Because my young one thanks to Pitch…children stop believing in us."  
Dahlia raises a brow at the name Pitch. Who is that? She vaguely remembers Jack mumbling that name when they were in the forest, near the hole where her nightmares seem to come alive. So, who is this Pitch and why does he want children to stop believing in such wonderful stories? Her eyes widen however when a thought comes within her mind.

"W-Wait, so…you're telling me that…the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and Sandman are real?" She questions with a confused look upon her pale features. Of course, every kid believes in such figures but when she was a child, she always had a hard time believing in them. Or anything for that matter.

North laughs loudly and slaps his massive hand on his upper thigh, "My dear one…I know you believe in them because you believe in me. If you didn't….none of this would be in your sight."

Dahlia's eyes widen as she peers around the room. North smiles at her action and places his enormous hand onto her petite shoulder, "Without children believing…none of this would be real. Nor would I or the others."

His words seem to full of anxiety, causing the human to lower her eyes to the large Yetis making the toys below them. Then, North removes his hand from her shoulder when a woman with a heavenly voice calls out his name. Dahlia turns around slowly, removing her hands from the railing and when she turns all the way around her mouth drops, almost to the fall. In front of her is a flying fairy with gorgeous feathers and a human face, she looks like a creature right out of a fairy tale. There are smaller fairies/birds flying around the beautiful fairy, one even buzzes around her head. The fairy smiles at Dahlia and holds her face within her petite palms. The sound of hums is loud due to the fairy's fast moving wings.

"Oh my, look at you…y-y-ou…you're all _grown up_! You've become a beautiful young lady…haven't you?" The fairy says gentle with a smile, showing off her pearly white teeth. Then she opens up Dahlia's lips and peers within her mouth. The brightly colored feathers upon her head begin to stick up as if the feathers know she is energized. "How are your teeth? Brush twice a day? I sure hope so. Have you been flossing? Oh you have! You were always good with that Dahlia!"

"TOOTH!" North shouts over to the fairy, the woman releases Dahlia's mouth with a small smile on her stunning features. Dahlia's expression is completely confused as she stares at the beautiful floating fairy.

"Wait…are…you the _tooth fairy?" _Dahlia whispers which causes the fairy to fly right in front of her, her head resting upon her petite hands while her legs are curled to her chest.  
The fairy nods with a huge smile on her face, "Of course! Tooth Fairy, that's me. Just call me Tooth, that's what everyone else does. I can't believe you can see me, you know most kids stop believing in me once they reach twelve, but…you can see me!The one and only, the guardian who works around the clock unlike the other guardians, well expect for _Sandy_.." The fairy's energized tone dies down at the word Sandy which causes Dahlia to frown because she doesn't understand why that name brings down the mood. The fairy however smiles at the girl and then flies away towards the globe, studying the lights upon the globe and her face sadden for some reason. Is it because the lights are dying out? Dahlia watches her, keeping her back to North as she studies the globe and the fairy.

"North, I can't believe you brought that human here," a male's voice is heard behind her and she looks over her shoulder. A large rabbit with grey fur and black marking upon the fur is starching the back of his ear with his bulky foot. A smile grows on her pale face from the sight. The Easter Bunny! It's real! The bunny notices her stare because it lowers its foot to the ground, then stands up.

"You've never seen a rabbit kid?" It says with a male voice as with some harshness as well. As well with an Austrian accent. Is the Easter Bunny a male?  
Dahlia shakes her head and her eyes lower to the bunny's feet, then to his lower section looking for a clear sign that he is a male. However, her eyes direct upwards because she is sure he will throw harsh words at her if he saw her eyes at his crotch. "I-It's just..I've never seen one…so large. And that towers over me. And one that speaks," she answers softly, gripping her hand to her bare arm.

The rabbit narrows his emerald hues at her but then grins. "Calm down mate, you act like I'm gonna attack ya." He walks over to her and pats the top of her messy black curls. "You've grown up…too quickly to be honest."

Dahlia's eyes widen as she peers up at the rabbit, then to flying fairy and back to North. They all remember her? How? It's been so long since she was a young girl. How can they possibly remember each and every child in the world? Emotions rush within her body and she looks down to the floor. All those years of doubting the guardians was a mistake. They were always real, and always watched her from afar. However, there is one question that is running within her mind.

"You all know me…but…when I was nine you all stopped coming to see me. When I lost a tooth, I woke up and my tooth was still there. When Easter came around, I never got eggs. And when Christmas came around, I never got presents on Christmas day….why? You act like you've always been there, why did you leave me all alone those days?"

The guardians exchange a look and Tooth flies over to the young human, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Dahlia…we…all of us were there for you. However, we aren't allowed to come to houses where parents keep telling their children we aren't real. When you were nine, you lost your left central incisor…well I sent one of my babies…and when she reached your pillow..The tooth was gone," Dahlia shakes her head, unsure what the fairy is saying. Tooth nods her feathery head, "Yes…your…father took it from me. He kept them in a bag so you wouldn't believe in me…in fact, I have a case of your teeth but they aren't filled up because I never got all of your teeth sadly.." Tooth's bright lavender iris sadden but she smiles at Dahlia, "But…look, you can see me and that proves you've always believed in me."

Dahlia stares at her dumbstruck and shakes her head. Her father took her teeth? Why!? Why did he do that to her!? Dahlia looks over to Bunny and North, "Did…that happen with you two as well?" Dahlia questions and both of the men nod their heads.

"When Easter rolled around…I would send you eggs to your back yard but your father always threw them in the trash. So, when you came out…they weren't there." Bunny explains softly to the human.

Dahlia's heart is cracking within her chest and then she looks over to North. He opens his mouth to speak but presses his lips together. "Stay there," he said simply and walked down the stairs. Tooth places her tender hand upon Dahlia's shoulder trying to comfort her. Then, North appears with a single wrapped gift within his massive hands and extends his hands out to Dahlia. Dahlia leisurely takes the gift within her hand and begins to tear off the wrapping. After carefully tearing off the paper, the gift is sitting within her palm and her navy eyes widen, a small gasp escapes her lip. It's a piano song book, a book she's wanted since she was eight but her mother always said no because it was a lot of money. Dahlia always sent letters to Santa, begging him to make her to book and give it to her. He never did, until now.

Dahlia presses the book to her chest and smiles softly up at the Christmas spirit, "Thank you…" she whispers to him and then looks back at the fairy and bunny. "for…telling me the truth…and…I-I never stopped believing in you. Never. " She looks down the piano book and she opens up the cover, written inside are simple words.

_**Don't Stop Believing. We're always there…**_


	19. The Promise

"_These faces come and go  
And all I do is think of you  
I'm on the long road home  
The road that leads me straight to you_

_I know it's hard  
I promise you we'll be alright  
And through this all_

_You know that you're the reason  
In everything I do  
It's all for you  
You know that you're my reason in life  
It's all for you."_  
_**-All For You, In This Moment**_

* * *

Jack's Point Of View.  
-

"So, where were you today?" Dahlia asks the winter spirit who is standing outside on the balcony. The boy stares up at the sky but then slowly turns to face the human sitting on the large bed.

"Out…" he said simply. He was out looking for Pitch and the teeth, even though it isn't his battle to be fighting, deep down he wants his own teeth. His own human memories. What if he had a family like Dahlia has? What if he had siblings? And, more importantly, why did he become _**this!? **_An immortal figure who cannot age nor die. He stares at his pale hands and remembers North's words that disturb him.

_"It is not wise to love a human Jack…they die, while we do not. Remember that," said North. "No matter what you think, they will grow old and die."_

No. He can't watch Dahlia grow old and die. Die, while he cannot. He can't imagine his life without her laughter or her vivid smile with her stunning blue eyes. There has to be another way around her fate laid out for her. He refuses to believe that she could die any day of any moment. He shakes his head trying to get the haunting thoughts out of his mind.

He looks over the human girl who has a blanket wrapped around her small body. The piano book sitting on her lap and her fingers gently stroke the hardback cover. Jack places his staff over his shoulder as he walks back into the large room. He places the staff on the ground next to the bed, and sits on the edge of the bed, keeping his distance from the young human. Jack studies her with her bright sapphire irises. Her long wavy locks hang over her porcelain face, which irritates him because he can't stare at her lovely face. Slowly, Jack moves closer to her hoping she won't notice, he stops once he is sitting right beside her. Dahlia keeps staring at the piano book. Jack moves his eyes to the piano book and then extends his pale hand out to lightly touch her black hair. Just to touch it, to feel it. He leaves it hanging over her face.

Dahlia looks over to him and smiles delicately causes his frozen heart to slowly race within his chest. Then, her eyes move towards the door but back over to him.

"Jack, who is Pitch?"

Jack shallows a lump within his throat and sighs softly. "I probably should have told you before…I," he runs a hand through his snowy hair and looks down at the quilt beneath them. "I didn't want to scare you away." His voice is broken as he looks at her.

However, she removes her hand from the book and places it one of his. His blue eyes stare at her hand and back to her.  
"Nothing you could say or do will ever make me run from you," she said simply. The words tug at his heart.

"Well, Pitch or the Boogeyman…is this monster, but he looks like a man. But back to the main point, you know the story of the Boogeyman. He lives under beds and gives nightmares children in their sleep," he said and she only nods her head in agreement. Jack removes his hand from beneath her soft palm, and tightly grips to her hand. "Well….he…he is trying to stop children from believing in the big guns, you know Tooth, North, and Bunny. He already got one of them, Sandman-"  
Dahlia quickly intrudes him, "What happened to him!?"  
Jack's crystal hues sadden and he looks down at her hand within his fingers. "He's gone…gone because of me," he whispers.

Dahlia stares at him and shakes her head, moving closer to him. "N-No, Jack don't say that. I'm sure whatever happened wasn't your fault!"  
Jack shakes his head, refusing to look at her due to the emotions swimming within his stomach. "No Dahlia…." His voice begins to crack into only a whisper. "I…I wasn't strong enough to save him. I-I-I wasn't. He's _**dead **_because of _me." _

Arms wrap around Jack's neck, pulling him into a firm embrace. Jack closes his eyes tightly; he can't let Dahlia see him like this. He's acting weak. He has to be strong for her. For himself. When her hand runs through his messy locks, that's when he loses all control of himself. His arms wrap tightly around her body and one of his hands grips to the back of her head, holding her close to him. She responds by stroking his back and he buries his head into her neck, inhaling her engaging scent. He could get lose within her embrace. The feeling of her hand within his hair is so soothing and relaxing, a peace engulfs him. A peace he has always wished for, and now he has it.

However, the peace doesn't last long because there is guilt hidden within his heart. He removes his head from her neck, staring into her sapphire hues.

"There's more…Pitch is the _creature _who haunts your dreams. Who is trying to hurt you," he said softly, his voice to the point of cracking. Jack removes himself out of her arms and sits on the edge of the bed. "He knows _**everything **_about you. Your dreams, your favorite movie, but worst of all he knows your _fears."_  
The silence from Dahlia is like a dagger into his stomach, but he continues to talk.

"That hole in the forest where I told you to never go, that's where he lives. That's why you were so shaken when I pulled you out. The black sand that you saw, that's his power. His nightmare sand. But what's worst of all is…is…" Jack shakes his head and places his hands onto his face.  
"Jack…finish your sentence," she pleads.  
Jack doesn't say or move for a long moment, but finally he glazes over to her. "He wants _you."  
_Dahlia's blue eyes widen and she shakes her head, "WHY!?" She whimpers.  
"Your fear is what gives him power, control over nightmares around the world. Why he picked you…I'm not sure. But, I'm guessing because your fear is so strong, you have so many nightmares within your brain and because of that…you're like a vessel for him. A vessel of power," he whispers and shakes his head, staring outside into the dark sky.

For a moment, neither of them speak. Both so unsure what to say because nothing they say will make anything lighten the serious situation. The silence within the room feels like knives hanging over their head, waiting to fall onto them if one of them speaks. Jack removes his head from his shaking hands, peering over to the human. Her face is colorless and her eyes are widening in fear. This is what he feared. Now, she will run away from him and he will lose her forever. Staring at her in this state is too much for him to handle, he stands up but her hand grips to the back of his hoodie.

"J-Jack….don't go. Please, please, don't leave me." She whispers, her words coming out only as a whisper.

Jack turns around to gape at the young human, his sapphire hues are close to breaking. "Dahlia…I…"  
Dahlia shakes her head and grabs to both of his hands, "Please…I wan-..no, I need you to stay. I feel so hopeless."

Jack's heart breaks into a million pieces and he tears away from her face. She makes him feel so hopeless yet so wanted. He's always wanted a human to see him, and there she is. On the bed, needing him, and only needing him. He's the only one she needs. He's wanted his so long. But he doesn't know how to react. Being alone for so long got the best of him. Interacting with humans is something he's never been good at, especially when they make his heart race and his palms get sweaty with ice.

Dahlia grips to his hands and he slowly sits down on the bed. "I..I won't leave you, I promise." He whispers to her causes a faint smile on her face.

He shallows another lump in his throat and stares at their hands. North's words still haunt him and he closes his eyes tightly. "T-This…a mistake," he whispers to her.  
"Why?"  
Jack looks down to the covers and back to her face, "I-I never wanted this to happen, I never wanted to experience these feelings …because…you're going to grow old and die. And…I-I…I…won't." He whispers, never leaving her gaze.  
Her face softens and her striking eyes move to the side. He looks away when a single tear fals from the corner of her eye. This wasn't supposed to happen. They don't speak for a while until Jack cannot take the heavy stress hanging over them. As he stares at her, a sudden realization comes over him. He has to say something, he has her _**now. **_And that's all that _**matters. **_She's here **now. **She's here with him now. They are together now, in this moment, and that's all that matters. She's here with him.

He removes his hands from hers causing her to stare at him with widen eyes. Fear engulfs her eyes because she is scared he will leave her. But he won't. He'll never leave her side ever again. Then, he grabs a hold of her head and crashes his lips to hers. A sob escapes her mouth but his cold lips move over hers. Her hands move to his chest and grip to his hoodie, pulling him towards her. Their kiss is so tender but passionate. He used to watch humans kiss but he never thought much of it, until now. It's like their whole existence depended on this passionate kiss. After what feels like many sunlit days, Jack breaks their kiss but holds her face within his freezing hands.

"Dahlia listen to me. I **promise **you Dahlia, that Pitch or anyone will **never **hurt you. I _swear _to you, that NO ONE will ever hurt you," his voice begins to crack into a horse whisper and he shakes his head, swallowing a lump within his throat. "And I _pledge _to make you happy; I'll do anything to see you smile every day. To know I'm the one who made you smiled." He runs his hand down her face but stops at her cheeks, pressing his forehead against hers. "I'll protect you from all the darkness of the world. I swear it…" He removes his forehead from hers to stare into her blue hues. He nods, as if to assure himself. "I **swear **it."

* * *

(Review please. I'm slowly getting the hang of this story but stay tuned for darkness along the way. Thanks for being such great fans. Kisses :) )


	20. Passion In Winter

"_You're like ice  
I-C-E,  
Feels so nice  
Scorching me,  
You're so hot hot  
Baby, your love is so hot, hot_

_Pull up,  
She been purring like a kitten  
Cravin' your love  
I've been counting down the days you been gone  
A little too long, patient  
Knowing exactly what it is  
It lasts time and now_

_When you come and lay between it this time  
Take the ice cube (boy, you know what)  
Sit it right below my navel  
And watch what I do  
And that's my favorite angle  
My legs are numb now  
Your loving be giving me chills"  
_**-Ice, Kelly Rowland**

* * *

**This is a LEMON character which mean sex.****If you don't want to read, then wait till I post a new character. This is my first lemon so be gentle with me. Enjoy. :)**

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Everything seemed like a dream when Dahlia awoken the next morning. The crisp winter wind brushed against her face and caused her to wake up. Outside her large window, a blizzard is seen. Probably due to Jack. She stretched her arms over her head and yawned loudly, as she pushed her wavy locks behind her shoulders. Her blue eyes move toward the large balcony and a smile grew on her face. She is still in North's factory. Seems crazy that Santa is real, along with the Easter Bunny, and heck, even the Tooth Fairy. But, nevertheless, she saw them with her own eyes.

Slowly, she removed the covers from her body however when a loud groan is heard beside her. Dahlia looked over and gasped loudly to see Jack lying right beside her. The winter spirit rubbed the top of his snowy locks with a sly smirk on his pale face.

"I guess I scared ya, huh?" He asked.

Dahlia's face flushed and she nodded, "O-Of course…I-I didn't know you slept beside me!? Jack, why didn't you tell me?" She then hit him lightly with a pillow which caused him to sit up.

"First of all, I don't sleep and I've been lying beside you for a while," he said with a smirk which caused Dahlia's face to flush even more. "You're kinda beautiful when you sleep."

Dahlia felt her heart inside her chest race like crazy. She removed the covers from her body and stood up, then made her way towards the bathroom. Leaving Jack within the bedroom, she had to control her crazy emotions within her chest. She took a hot shower and then let her hair dry on it's own because she doesn't have a hair dryer her at Santa's workshop. Which seems strange, couldn't a Yeti make her one. She just doesn't want to be a bother to them; they seem to be busy since Christmas is soon. After ten minutes, she entered the large bedroom once again only to find Jack missing. Perhaps her expression hurt and confused him. Dahlia sighed loudly and ran a hand through her long locks; however she then spotted him near the balcony window. He is resting against the railing outside with his hands in his blue hoddie, he is watching her with his intense sapphire blue eyes.

Dahlia felt her face beginning to flush once again, so she moved her eyes to the side where a dresser is resting. On top of the dresser rests a brush, she quickly picked it up and ran it through her long hair. She stopped once a cold finger is pressed against her hot face, causing a numbness to grow within her body.

"You humans are so strange," Jack whispered to her as he studied her red face. "Does your body just give off all that heat at once?"

Dahlia tried to control her heart racing within her chest but it was extremely difficult. "W-Well…I-I-I mean, I'm warm-blooded so…there's that…"

Jack chuckles softly which sounds like the softest bells in the air, "Do I make you nervous?" He whispers in her ear which caused Dahlia to close her eyes. Jack places his hand within her long black hair, gently stroking her hair.

Dahlia then opened her eyes and turned to face him, "Don't you have any work to do?"

Jack removed his hand from her hair and tapped his chin, "Let's see there is a blizzard outside thanks to me…so nope. I'm done. Oh, wait, there is something I forgot to do-" He leaned down to her face and ever so gently pressed his lips against hers.

When his ice cold lips touched hers, Dahlia lost all control of her mind. Slowly, her hands snaked around his waist, which promoted the winter spirit to place his hands within her hair. One hand placed behind her head while the other moved down to the nape of her neck, to pull her closer to her. Her body pressed up against his is too much for Dahlia's body to handle, heat rises from her stomach to her heart. Jack then ran his tongue across her bottom lip, which caused her hands around his waist to tighten. He was asking permission into her mouth. He is nothing like James. James would've shoved his tongue down her throat. Dahlia opened her mouth slightly and a gentle sigh escaped her lip, her sigh caused Jack's hand to tighten within her hair. His tongue met hers, and he brushed his against hers. In a slow rhyme movement, almost like a dance.

Jack then pushed her against the dresser and her hands grip to the dresser's edge as they kiss passionately. His mouth on hers is so cold, she can barley feel her lips. They are growing numb. After what felt like many sunlit days, Jack removes his mouth from hers but presses his cold lips against hers.

"Are your lips numb yet?" He joked.

Dahlia only nods, "Yeah…no thanks to you."

He only smirked and his hands slowly moved down to her waist, he gently rubbed her sides with his hands, "I've seen humans do this so many times but when I'm with you…I don't know…I freeze," his voice was soft, and his sapphire eyes are focused on his hands upon her waist.

"Do I make you nervous?" Dahlia joked with him.

He chuckles and nods, "Yeah…I've been alone for so long. No one could see but Jamie…but never a girl. Never," he stopped and his grip on her body tighten, as if he was scared she would disappear into thin air. "And I can touch you. You can feel me. I've never kissed a girl, until you came along. And….there's no way I can do the other thing you humans do."

"What other thing?" Dahlia asked, unsure what he is talking about.

Jack looks up at her finally with his vivid blue eyes. "You know….God Dahlia don't make me spell it out," he then sighed and removed his hands from her waist, "I'm talking about _**sex."**_

Dahlia's whole face grows red and her eyes quickly move to the side, "Oh."

"Don't tell me you and that _pig _did it, God, please tell me he didn't touch you that way." Jack said with defense in his voice.

"N-No…I-I-I…wanted to wait…."

Jack sighed in relief and ran his hand through his white hair; he walked away from her and kept his back turned to her. "When I see you…my cold heart melts. You make me weak, and…I-I…-" he turned back to face her and slowly walked over to her, placing his numbing hands upon her flushed face. "I know I have to protect you from the darkness of Pitch. I-I-I…can't imagine letting you go…letting you go to be touched by someone else. Be loved by some else, the thought makes me sick to my stomach. I can't go into my borderline schizophrenia. I can't be alone again. God, Dahlia, I can't think of my life without you…"

Dahlia quickly cut him off by pushing her lips against his; he sighed loudly and wrapped his arms around her small body. His lips move over hers and she opened her mouth so his tongue could explore her mouth, and to dance with her tongue once again. Without even thinking about her movements, Dahlia slowly moved Jack towards the bed until she fell on top of his chest. Their lips break apart as he runs his hands through her long hair. Then, a devious smirk appeared on his face and he pushed her onto her back. She opened her legs so his body could fit perfectly against hers. The feeling of his chest pressed against hers caused her heart to race, even if they are fully clothed. He kissed her forehead as her face flushed the softest red.

"I…I….I don't know what I'm doing…" He admitted down to her.  
"Neither do I," she whispered softly.

He laughed and kissed her cheek, and then his lips trailed down to her chin then to the base of her neck. Dahlia sighs softly when he gently bit into her pale skin, claiming her as his. Slowly, Jack placed his hands on her sweater and then moved underneath; he looked up at her as if asking permission without words. She only nods. Jack's hand moved up against her pale skin, which caused her skin to grow with goose bumps. His hands stopped at her bra, his fingers outlined the fabric but then his hands reached underneath which caused Dahlia's back to arch only slightly. The tips of his fingers touch her nipples and he murmured something to himself, then he removed her shirt and stared down at her bra. He kissed her bare collarbone, and kissed around her bra. After a moment, his hand slid under her bra and he removed it from her body. Dahlia's whole face turns red; she's never exposed her chest to anyone before.

Jack leaned down and kissed her bare breast, which caused Dahlia to moan ever so slightly. Jack smiled up at her which caused her heart to flutter within her body. His kisses are so tender, so loving it almost caused her to cry. Then he kissed her bare nipple and took it into his mouth, her hand raked into his hair as he gently bit it until it hardens in his mouth. His freezing fingers touch her other nipple until it is harden as well. He stopped and kissed down her stomach, he places his hands underneath her body to raise her lower body off the bed as he slides off her baggy pants, but he paused.

"A-Are…you sure…I-I-I-I-I mean," he stuttered with his words

"Jack, it's okay. It's okay," Dahlia said simply with a smile.

He leans up and kissed her deeply, then removed her sweat pants and threw them to the ground. Dahlia keeps her legs closed tightly, but Jack rubbed his hands down her bare legs which caused her to relax ever so slightly. He then rubs his hand against her panties and a moan escapes her mouth. Jack leaned up and kissed her bare neck, "You're so beautiful…" he whispered into her ear. Then his hand slowly moved into her panties and his fingers danced against her core. Dahlia arches her back and she closes her eyes tightly. Jack kissed her neck and her cheeks, hoping it will calm her down and relax her. Her hand grips to his wrist, but not to push him away. After a moment, Jack removed her panties and opened her legs, his finger ran down her wet folds which caused her to moan loudly.

"You humans," he mumbled with a smile, "are amazing." He then lowered his head and licked her wetness. Dahlia shot up from the bed and her fingers gripped into his hair. "JACK!" She moaned loudly and his hand roughly pushed her back onto the bed as his lips move over her hot core. His cold breath caused her whole body to shiver, his cold breath against her most sensitive area of her body is too much to handle. His whole mouth covered her core and her body shook with pleasure, her face is flushed with the brightest shade of red. When her moans became louder and louder, he removed himself from her hot core. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and he has a large smirk on his snow like face. He quickly took off his hoodie and his brown pants, leaving him completely naked.

"Y…..You didn't give me a chance to touch you," Dahlia said in a joking tone, trying to make light of their heated moment.

"You can touch me later…I just want to be one with you. And touch you. And hold you. And..._love you_," he said softly and leaned down to softly kiss her lips.

The word love caused her eyes to widen, but before she could say something she felt his hard core against her thigh Dahlia's blue eyes moved down his pale body until she saw his erection standing at full attention. Jack placed his hands beside her head and the head of his erection is pressed against her wet folds, "Are you sure?" He asked.

She only nods, "Please…" she whimpered up to him.

Jack placed his forehead against hers, "I'll kiss the pain away," he whispered and then pressed the head of his erection into her tightness. She groans in pain and bites her lower lip, but he softly kisses her. His kiss is tender but passionate as he moved inside of her wet tightness.

"Oh my God….you're so warm….so warm. Oh sweet Dahlia, "he whispered softly.

He removed his forehead from hers as he slowly pushed his whole manhood into her tightens and Dahlia whimpers from the pain, but his cold kisses relax her scorching body. His manhood is freezing but the hotness of her core evens out the temperature. Like yin and yang almost. Ever so slowly, he removed himself from her and slowly pushed himself into her again. Dahlia opened her legs for him once her body was relaxed to the point of pleasure. She placed her hands into his white locks and kissed him softly. He moved in and out of her slowly, ever so slowly because he did not want to hurt her. However, her heart feels like it is soaring in the winter sky. Jack pressed his face against her neck as he moved inside of her, kissing and biting her skin. Soft moans escaped her lips every so often, and they were the sound of bells. Just perfect.

When her legs wrapped around his waist, Jack began to move a bit faster which caused the human to moan loudly. Soon, their moans became mixed with one another until the point of crescendo. Jack released his freezing snow into her hot core which caused her to shot off the body but he holds her down as he moaned loudly, even called her name out at least once or twice.

When the crescendo moved down to an even beat, Jack leaned down and kissed her sweating face. He removed himself from her core and laid on his side, but pulled her against pushed some strands from her face with a small smirk on his face, "You humans…_never _cease to amaze me." She smiled up at him and he pressed his cold lips against hers, holding her close to her body. She could feel his heart against hers, just a faint beat, but that beat sounded like the sweetest melody.


End file.
